


Not Again

by Slimebo2



Series: Of Heroes And Thieves [1]
Category: Persona 5, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Gen, gonna be very long, new chapters ever other sunday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2018-12-30 22:00:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 42,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12118101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slimebo2/pseuds/Slimebo2
Summary: It's been a few years since the disbandment of the Phantom Thieves, and they all have continued on with their lives.However, when Igor and Lavenza find another Metaverse in an alternate world, they send Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana to put an end to it.Along the way, they three will create new friends and enemies.Will the three be able to take the mantle of Phantom Thieves once again and put an end to the Metaverse?





	1. It Begins

The Phantom Thieves.

 

It’s been only a few years since Tokyo transformed into the hellish combination between the real world and Mementos and how the Phantom Thieves saved the day, but it seems the world has moved on. A few documentaries here and there, but the general public doesn’t put much thought into what has happened.

 

The Phantom Thieves never forgot. The images of the world shifting forever burned into the minds of Ren, Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, and Haru. Even as their lives as phantom thieves have ended, their bonds will always be close together.

 

Once graduating from high school, Ren had enrolled at a university in Tokyo. His life became a cycle: Wake up, eat, school, study, friends, eat sleep, repeat. Even then, due to their own lives, his friends became less and less available. Usually, it will just be him, Ryuji, and Morgana.

 

Ren sat in a booth at a restaurant. Morgana was in his bag, and Ryuji sat across from him. “Have you noticed how boring life is now?” Asked Ryuji as he fiddled with his fork.

 

“Even so, we did save lives while we were active,” replied Ren with a smile.

 

“I know, I know.” Ryuji sighed and slouched in his seat. “Jus’ that sometimes I wish we could be the thieves again. You get me, man?”

 

“Fool!” yelled Morgana as he escaped from the bag. “The Metaverse returning would be a bad thing!”

 

“Mona, why do you always have to ruin the fun?”

 

“Because you’re an idiot.”

 

“What did you say?” Ryuji leaned forward, staring at Morgana.

 

“Alright. Alright. Stop fighting,” said Ren. “Besides, we’re in public.”

 

“You’re lucky Mona.”

 

“Like you would win,” retorted Morgana.

 

The three continued to talk while they ate. Once they finished, they exited the restaurant. While walking home, Ren noticed something in the corner of his. It was… a transparent blue door. Ren instinctively walked toward it, like he was a second year again. Grabbing onto the handle, he opened the door.

 

* * *

 

On the inside, was the save room back when Ren was in high school. The Velvet Room. Ren awoke in his cell. However, he was not chained to a ball, nor was he in prison garb. Even the cell door was open. In the center stood Lavenza, with Igor sitting at his desk to her right. “Welcome back to the Velvet Room,” said Igor as he greeted Ren. “It has been some time, hasn’t it?”

 

Ren smiled warmly as he replied. “It has Igor.”

 

“It’s nice to see you again, Wild Card,” added Lavenza.

 

“Now, you know we didn’t allow you in here just to say hi,” began Igor. “Lavenza and I have found something peculiar.”

 

“What is it?” asked Ren.

 

“We’ve found another Mementos.”

 

Ren did not reply, he was too surprised to respond. Hundreds of thoughts swirled around in his head. “However, the Mementos cannot be accessed from your world. It is found within another, parallel world.”

 

“That is why we called upon you,” added Igor.

 

“When do I start? Just send my friends and me to that other world and we’ll get to the bottom of that Mementos in no time,” stated Ren. He gave a confident smile.

 

“I’m afraid it isn’t that simple.”

 

“Like before, all of Mementos will not be open to you yet,” said Lavenza. “You and your team will need to change the hearts of the twisted in that world.”

 

“Additionally, the power needed to transfer eight beings to a parallel world is something I do not possess.”

 

“Does that mean I have to go in alone?” asked Ren.

 

“I only stated I cannot transfer eight beings. I can, however, transfer three beings.”

 

“You, the Magician, and the Chariot, to be exact,” said Lavenza. “If you so wish to grow you must find those who live in the parallel world who wish to join.”

 

“I understand,” said Ren

 

“Good. Now, do you accept these terms?” asked Igor.

 

“I do.”

 

“Very well. I look forward to the coming days. As for now, you shall return to your current world. Until next time.” Before Ren knew it, he vision faded to black.

 

* * *

 

When Ren returned to the real world, he looked around. The door was gone and no one was around… except for Morgana.

 

“Helloooo? Earth to Frizzy Hair!” exclaimed Morgana.

 

“Huh? Oh, sorry, I must've spaced out there,” replied Ren. He gave out a weak chuckle.

 

“Yeah? Well, don’t do it again! We have a tight routine to keep to!” Morgana didn’t believe Ren, but he knew he wasn’t going to get anything out of him. With no deliberation, Ren continued his trek towards home.

 

Over the next few days, nothing happened. Ren went to school, studied, and hung out with Ryuji. Ren began to wonder if he was ever going to go the other world.

 

And then it happened.

 

* * *

 

One morning, Ren woke up in an unfamiliar setting. The first he noticed was Morgana sleeping on the bed next to him. The next thing he noticed is that his body felt different, but he couldn’t really put his finger on what it was. Carefully, he got out of bed. He noticed that he felt lighter, but even with that, there was another feeling, deep within him. Looking around the room, he could see that it was a standard bedroom. Bed, desk, nightstand, and dresser. There were no decorations. Stepping outside his room, he saw stairs leading down to his left, and a hallway with more rooms to his right.

 

When Ren went down the stairs, he found himself in a living room area. On the couch was Ryuji sleeping. With a quick look, Ren would notice Ryuji looked younger. “What?” asked Ren to himself

 

“Ah, you’re awake,” called out a voice. Ren turned to see Lavenza.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“I’ll explain once The Chariot awakens.” Lavenza sat down on a velvet chair in the living room, waiting.

 

Eventually, Ryuji woke up. He lifted up his head and looked around the room. “The hell?” asked Ryuji softly.

 

“Ah, now I can explain.”

 

Ryuji shot up when he heard that voice, he shot up. “What the! You’re that girl from the room!”

 

“If you’re referring to the Velvet Room, then indeed I am.”

 

Morgana came sprinting down once Ryuji started yelling. “What’s going on?!” exclaimed Morgana

 

“And that makes three. Now, I will explain everything.”

 

“It better be a good one,” claimed Ryuji

 

“There is another Mementos, within an alternate world.”

 

“How could this be?” asked Morgana.

 

“Igor and I cannot find the reason for this occurrence, but we do know who can expel it from this world. As such, we have brought you three into the other world.”

 

“You’re telling me we’re in an alternate universe?”

“You could say. Now, there is one thing about this world I should note. The majority of the population are born with an extraordinary power, or a quirk as they’re called in this world. When entering into this world, you were all given a quirk.”

 

“So we have superpowers? Awesome!”

 

“Ren and Ryuji, you two will also be attending a high school known as U.A. The training for the entrance exam will begin tomorrow.”

 

“What do you mean training?” asked Ren.

 

“You’ll find out.”

 

* * *

 

Just as Lavenza said, training began the next day. “First, you will learn how to use your quirks.”

“How hard can it be?” asked Ryuji.

 

“Untrained, you can kill.”

 

“Oh, make sense.”

 

“First, Ren. Your quirk is Black Viper. You can create and manipulate curse energy. Ryuji, your quirk is Supercharge. You can cover your fists with electricity. Now, concentrate on using your quirk”

 

After a few tries, the two were able to activate their quirks. “Good, now the real training can begin.” Ren and Ryuji spent the next three months of training, studying, and getting used to their new powers. The training was grueling and the studying was intense. The two were beginning to get used to until one day.

 

“You’ll start something new today,” stated Lavenza.

 

“Good. I was starting to get bored with all the training we’ve been doin’,” replied Ryuji.

 

“You’ll be using your personas.”

 

“Alright, let’s head to the Mementos and start,” said Ren.

 

“No, not like that. While you will be using your personas in this world’s Metaverse, you are also able to use them here.”

 

“What!? We can use our personas in this world too!?” exclaimed Ryuji.

 

“Correct, but I would recommend not to.”

 

“Ah, C'mon!” Ryuji was clearly upset at that statement

 

“People here have only one quirk, so for you two to be able to do your own quirks as well use your personas will only lead to problems. I will only condone persona use in emergency situations.”

 

“I understand,” said Ren.

 

“Even if I can’t use Seiten Taisei that much, it is good to use him again,” said Ryuji smiling.

 

“Begin,” said Lavenza. Soon enough a white bird-shaped mask with black around the eyes appeared on Ren’s face, and a mask resembling as skull appeared on Ryuji’s.

 

“Arsene!” yelled Ren

 

“Seiten Taisei!” called out Ryuji.

 

The masks of their faces dissipated. In their stead, the two paced a hand on their face, covering where the masks used to be. Behind the two were their personas.

 

“Wait, why don’t I have my good skills? It’s just Zio and Lunge!” yelled Ryuji

 

“I only have Arsene as well,” added Ren.

 

“Hmm, it seems that the transition has weakened your personas,” began Lavenza. “No matter, you will train even harder.”

 

* * *

 

Soon, it was the day before the entrance exams. Ren and Ryuji have training endlessly at this point. “This has been way longer than what I’ve expected,” said Ryuji.

 

“At least it’s almost over,” said Ren.

 

“Correct,” said Lavenza, who had snuck up on the two.

 

“Jeez! You need to not do that!” exclaimed Ryuji.

“You two have one more task,” said Lavenza, ignoring what Ryuji said.

 

“What is it?” asked a curious Ren.

 

“Both of you will spare.”

 

“I gotta fight Ren?” asked a worried Ryuji.

 

“Correct. Give it your all.”

 

The two went outside to the training grounds. Getting ready, they waiting for Lavenza. Lavenza looked from Ren to Ryuji. “Begin.”

 

Immediately, Ryuji charged his fists and lunged at Ren. Ren leaped back and created a tendril of curse energy and sent it at Ryuji. Ryuji punched the tendril, stopping it in its track. “Even if it’s a sparring match, I’m gonna give it my all,” said Ryuji. “I wanna see what I can really do with my power.”

 

“I wouldn’t expect anything else from you Ryuji,” replied Ren. Ryuji sprinted towards Ren, giving an electrified jab to the gut. Ren returned the favor with a kick to the side and the pushed Ryuji away. Ren used curse energy to create a blade of sorts. Slashing at Ryuji, he made a slight cut in his shirt. Ryuji, knowing he is put at a disadvantage by this, grabs a metal pole lying on the ground to use as a weapon. Electrifying it, he swung at Ren. Soon the fight became a match of blocking and dodging strikes.

 

Morgana, who was watching the fight with Lavenza, spoke up. “Why are you making them fight?”

 

“To see if they really have the drive to do this,” replied Lavenza.

 

“What do you mean? They’re the Phantom Thieves. Of course, they have the drive to change hearts.”

 

“It isn’t that. UA is known to pit their students against each other in competitions and training.”

 

“Oh, now I see it. If they can’t bring themselves to fight each other than that could lead to problems at the school.”

 

“Correct. But now I see that I have nothing worry about.” Lavenza smiled as she watched Ryuji and Ren fight. At this point, both of them were breathing heavily.

 

“It’s time to end this,“ said Ren. Quickly, Ren summoned Arsene.

 

“What the!?” exclaimed Ryuji in surprise. Instead of attacking, Arsene was used to throw Ren high into the air. As Ren descended, he prepared to hit Ryuji in one final blow. As this happened, Ryuji began to charge up his right fist. The faster Ren fell, the more Ryuji charged. The electricity began to creep from Ryuji’s fist to his arm. Ren surrounded himself with curse energy.

 

And then there was the collision. The impact caused the ground to shift a little and a plume of dust rose from the ground, covering up Ren and Ryuji. Lavenza and Morgana watched intently, trying out figure out what happened.

 

When the dust settled, both Ren and Ryuji were left unconscious.


	2. Entrance Exams

It was the day of the UA entrance exams. If Ren and Ryuji fail, this whole journey will be all for nothing. While on the train to the school, Morgana peeped his head out of Ren bag and spoke. “Are you guys ready for your exams?”

 

“I hope so, considering all the training Lavenza put us through,” answered Ren.

 

“Come on, Ren, I think we’re more than ready,” exclaimed Ryuji proudly.

 

“UA is the number one high school for heroes in this world, people have been training their whole lives to get in. Don’t underestimate the exams,” said Morgana.

 

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. And can you keep it down, who knows if anybody on this train has some ‘talk to animals’ quirk or somethin’.”

 

“Would Morgana even fit into the category? He technically isn’t a cat,” added Ren

 

“He just looks and acts like one,” said a grinning Ryuji.

 

“I’m not a cat!” yelled Morgana. People began turning to see where the sound of a cat meowing was. The train car filled with chatter.

 

“Is there a cat in the train?” asked one voice.

 

“I swear I heard a cat!” called out another.

 

“Shut up,” said Ryuji to Morgana. “Even if people can’t hear your words, they hear you’re meowing.”

 

“You wanna fight!?!” exclaimed Morgana. Before Ryuji could react, Ren pushed Morgana’s head back into the bag.

 

The train stopped and people began to flood in and out of the car, a girl seems to be pushed around. “Hey, quit it!” she exclaimed as she was shoved to left, straight towards Ren and Ryuji. As the girl headed towards him, Ren noticed two things: Her pink fluffy hair, and her pink skin. Then she collided with him. “Oooowww,” groaned the girl as she rubbed her head. After a few seconds, she looked to Ren. “Oh, sorry about that!” The girl smiled at him.

 

“No need to apologize,” replied Ren. Ren is surprised by the girl’s odd looks, but he equates to just having to do with her quirk. At this point, the train had begun to move again.

 

“Well, I guess I’m here now,” said the girl, still smiling.

 

After a few minutes, Ryuji spoke up. “Hey, Ren. What do ya think the entrance exams will be like? I hope I get to show off my powers.”

 

Hearing this, the girl turned to look at Ryuji and Ren. “Are you two trying out for UA?” asked the girl.

 

“Yeah, we are.” Ryuji gave a confident grin.

 

“Me too! I’m Mina Ashido, what are your names?”

 

“I’m Ryuji Sakamoto, and frizzy hair to my side is Ren Amamiya.”

 

“Well, nice to meet you two!” Ashido smiled brightly at the two boys. The rest of the train ride was fairly simple. The three talked a little as the train headed for the closest station to UA, but in the back of their minds was one goal: passing the entrance exams.

 

* * *

 

Once arriving at the entrance, Ashido ran ahead of Ren and Ryuji. “I’ll see you guys inside, okay!” she called out, grinning.

 

“She seems nice,” said Ren.

 

“You’re telling me,” replied Ryuji. He proceeded to slightly chuckle. “Maybe this school will be easier than Shujin. We don’t have to deal with that bastard Kamoshida or bad reputations here.”

 

“I’m thankful for that.”

 

Morgana peeped his head out of Ren’s bag. “Speaking of Kamoshida,” began Morgana. “We need to find a palace soon.”

 

“Well, it’s pretty hard to do that when the only other people we’ve talked too are Lavenza and Ashido,” replied Ryuji.

 

“True… and we are at a disadvantage,” said Ren as he looked at all the people coming in.

 

“And what’s that?”

 

“We don’t have a full team.”

 

“Nice thinking, Ren,” said Morgana. “When we first started with Kamoshida, I said something along the lines of that we need four people. We’re only three.”

 

“Oooooh, now I get it,” said Ryuji. “We need to find somebody to join the team. Our options are… Ashido.”

 

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this until we finish our exams,” said Ren. He would look to the left to see an average looking boy with green hair walking. The boy seems to be really excited. There is a girl walking behind him as well. She appears shorter than the boy, with a constant blush and brown hair. The boy trips and falls over, but the girl runs up and touches him on the back. Instead of speeding up his fall, the boy stops falling completely. Ren assumes it just has to do with the girl's quirk and keeps on walking.

 

Ren and Ryuji entered the building and got their ID cards. Heading to the auditorium next, the two saw Ashido. As she is the only person they know, they sit down next to her. “Oh, hey guys,” Ashido said, smiling at the two.

 

On stage, there was a man, with blonde gravity-defying hair, mostly black attire, and what appears to be an old stereo player around his neck and a projection screen behind him. The man began to speak. “How’s it hanging, UA contestants!? You’re listening to this school’s DJ!” The way the man spoke was… enthusiastic. “Come on, and let me hear ya!” There was silence. “Mellow, huh? That’s alright, I’ll get straight to the point. You’re all gonna learn how this practical exam is gonna go down! Are you ready?!” There was more silence.

 

One of the kids near Ren and Ryuji began to ramble on about how the man on stage was a hero called Present Mic, and how much he adored the hero. Turning to see who was rambling, Ren saw the same kid who almost fell on his face earlier. “Like you’re identification cards said, you will be out there completing 20-minute mock battles in urban settings!” The screen behind him shifted to show one large rectangle, represent the school. Seven pathways branched off from the large rectangle, each one leading to a different square. Each square was labeled with a letter from A to G. “Once I drop the mic, you’ll head to your specified battle center.”

 

Most of the students inside the auditorium look to their cards. Ryuji looked at his card, then Ren’s, and Ashido’s. “Hey, uh, Ashido. We’re going to the same place,” said Ryuji

 

“Aw, then that means Amamiya is gonna be left all alone,” replied Ashido.

 

“I think I can manage,” said Ren.

 

Present Mic began speaking again, as the screen changed to show a diagram of the mock cities and three robot-like designs in the corners. “Okay, Okay! Let’s check out your targets! There are three types of mock villains in every battle area, and you’ll earn points from beating them based on their difficulty. Your goal in this trial is to raise your score by using your quirk to shred these villains like a guitar solo!” The screen showed a sprite of Present Mic, resembling a video game, fighting sprite versions of the robots. “However! You have to stay heroic. Attacking other exam takes is a no-no.”

 

One of the students in the auditorium raised his hand and spoke. “Excuse me, sir, I have a question.”

 

“Hit me!”

 

“On the print-out, there are four villain types listed, not three. With all respect, if this is an error on UA materials, it is shameful. As exemplary students, we expect the best from Japan’s most notable school. A mistake like this is unforgivable.” The student turned and pointed at the kid who almost fell earlier. “In addition, you with the unkempt hair! You’ve been muttering this entire time, we can all hear you. If you can’t bother to take this seriously, don’t show up and distract the rest of us.” A few students laughed, presumably at the kid with unkempt hair.

 

“Alright, settle down now. Thanks for your question! The fourth villain type is worth zero points, as such, it’s just an obstacle that has been put in your way. One in every battle center, you should all just think of it as a hurdle you should avoid. Sometimes they just aren’t worth it.” Ren couldn’t believe it. Are they trying to infer that some villains aren’t worth going after? Looking over to Ryuji, Ren saw the grimace on his face. Ryuji was thinking the same thing as Ren.  
  
“Thank you very much. Please continue,” said the student who asked the question prior.

 

“That’s all I got for now. Time to sign off with a little present: a sample of our school motto! As general Napoleon Bonaparte once said, ‘A true hero is one who overcomes life’s misfortunes.’ Are you ready to go beyond? Let’s hear a Plus Ultra.” Yet again, there was silence. “Good luck!”

 

* * *

 

Ryuji stood at the gate to his battle area. This is it. Make or break. To Ryuji’s left was Ashido. “Let’s try our hardest, alright?” said Ryuji.

 

“You bet I will,” replied Ashido.

 

“Go, go, go, go!” blasted Present Mic’s voice through the intercom. “Heroes have can’t wait for somebody to tell them to start! You’re wasting time here!”

 

Ryuji was quick to start running. With his track team experience, Ryuji was able to be in the front group of students in the area. Just then. A robot broke through the wall of the building on Ryuji’s right. Quick to react, Ryuji charged his fist and lunged at the robot. Landing on the robot’s shoulders, Ryuji punched in what would be its head. The robot exploded, sending Ryuji into the air. “Shit!” yelled out Ryuji. When he landed, Ryuji was on the roof of a building.

 

“Where did Sakamoto go?” asked Ashido to herself. She couldn’t let this stop her from doing well on her test. Ashido saw a robot and ran up to it. Creating a ball of acid in her hands, she threw it at the robot. The acid melted right through the robot. “Just keep on doing this, and you’ll get in… Nothing to worry about.”

 

Ryuji looked around. The gap between roofs was small enough to jump over. There were a bunch of robots on both his right and left side. Ryuji smirked. “Free points.” First going to his left, he punched one robot right in the side, destroying it. Now all the robots on the rooftops are alerted of Ryuji’s presence. Two robots charged towards Ryuji. He jumped over one robot and punched it in its back. The other robot tried to punch Ryuji. Instead, the robot’s arm was grabbed by Ryuji. Charging his fist, Ryuji sent electricity into the robot, causing the robot to short circuit. “I can do this.”

 

Ashido was running through the area and destroying robots as she found them. In the corner of her eye, she saw Ryuji. Without thinking, she turned her head to see what he was doing. He was fighting a group of robots on the rooftops but didn’t seem to notice the robot sneaking up on his. Ashido knew she had to get up there. She threw some acid at a street pole, causing it to lean towards the building Ryuji was on. Climbing up the pole, the robot got ever so closer to Ryuji. Once at the top of the pole, Ashido jumped forwards, throwing acid at the robot. “There!” exclaimed Ashido.

 

“The hell?!” Ryuji looked back and saw the robot creeping up on him, which is now destroyed. Looking back to Ashido, he could see that she didn’t quite make the jump. Holding on the ledge, Ashido could only hope she wouldn’t fall. Ryuji sprung into action, grabbing Ashido’s arm and pulling her up onto the roof

 

“You saved me!”

 

“Jeez, you think I was gonna let you fall?”

 

Before Ashido could answer, the ground shook.

 

* * *

 

 

Ren was going through the alleyways, looking for robots. He was using his phantom thief experience to stealthily take down the robots. He stuck to the wall and peeked around the corner. Seeing two robots, Ren ran up to one and jumped onto its shoulders. Using his quirk, Ren ripped off the head of the robots, and then using his curse energy to create a blade, he sliced the other robot in half.

 

Ren then ran out of the alleyway and into an open area. Looking around, he saw multiple destroyed robots, as well as multiple students. As Ren tried to get to another alleyway, he ran into the boy who fell earlier that day. “Oh sorry!” yelped the boy.

 

“It’s fine,” replied Ren.

 

Then the ground shook. A gigantic robot rose from the ground, destroying buildings in the process. Students began to run away. Ren did the same. He can’t use his persona to stop the robot due to all the people, so all he can do is run away. The boy, however, didn’t run. It seems he was frozen in fear. “What is that kid doing?! He’s gonna get himself killed if he just stands there!” exclaimed one of the students. Then the boy started running.

 

* * *

 

 

Ryuji and Ashido watched as the robot rose from the ground. “Damn it…” said Ryuji softly. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t use Seiten Taisei.”

 

“What’s a Seiten Taisei?” asked Ashido.

 

“Nothing! Let’s just worry about that giant robot and not whatever a Seiten Taisei is.”

 

“Alright,” said Ashido as she raised an eyebrow. She knew Ryuji knew something but decided not to push him for answers for now.

 

Then they heard a crash.

 

* * *

 

The boy ran towards the robot. Ren watched in disbelief. Is that kid trying to kill himself? The kid jumped into the air, high enough to reach the top of the robot. While in the air, the kid punched the robot in what would be its face, creating a big dent in it. The force of the punch knocked back the robot, causing it to fall over onto its bag. As the boy fell, Ren looked down to see a girl on the ground. “No way… He was trying to save her”

 

“Look! It looks like his legs are broken!” yelled one student.

 

Just as the kid was about to hit the ground, he was slapped by the girl on the ground. Because of this, the kid is now floating just above the ground. “Release,” said the girl as she pressed the tips of her fingers together. With this, the boy fell to the ground.

 

“Times up!” yelled Present Mic through the intercom. People began to gather around the kid, seeing if he is okay.

 

“You all did great! You’re all heroes in my eyes,” said a short old woman walking up to the kid. She looked at the kid. “Oh dear. He hasn’t even started and he’s already this injured.” Puckering up her lips, she kissed the kid, surprising everybody. All of the kid’s broken limbs healed.

 

“Who is she?” asked one student.

 

“Recovery Girl. She’s the nurse at UA,” said another student.

 

Despite the fact that the kid just punched a giant robot, his face showed grimace. “Zero points…” said the kid softly.

 

“Alright, everybody! Head inside to do your written exams!” yelled Present Mic.

 

* * *

 

After the written exams, Ren and Ryuji headed home and began to wait for the results. A few weeks passed since the entrance exams when a letter came in addressed to Ren and Ryuji. Opening it, they see a small cylinder. Placing it on a table, the two inspected it. Suddenly a hologram began to be projected from the cylinder. The hologram showed a very buff man with blonde hair and a red, white, and blue outfit.

 

“Hello! It’s me, All Might!” called out the man man. Ren and Ryuji jumped back surprised. “Ren Amamiya and Ryuji Sakamoto, you two showed exemplary skills and academic prowess during your entrance exams. That’s why, as the newest staff member of UA, I’m a hologram telling you this. You two are accepted into UA. Welcome to the Hero Academia.” As quick as All Might appear, he was gone.

 

“We did it,” said Ryuji.

 

Morgana walked up to them and jumped up onto the table. “I knew you two could do it,” said Morgana. “Now… Now we just have to figure out who’ll be our first target.”

 

“This’ll be fun,” said Ryuji as he smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter done. The next one will introduce some new and old characters, so stay tuned.


	3. Old Friends, New People

“Hey Ren,” said Ryuji as he sat down on the couch in the living room of their current house.

 

"Yeah?" responded Ren, sitting across from Ryuji in a chair.

 

"Do you think Leblanc exists in this world?”

 

“It does,” said another voice. Turning to see who it was, Ren and Ryuji saw Lavenza. “While this is a world different from your own, many people who exist in your world also exist here.”

 

Morgana poked his head out of Ren’s bag and spoke up.”Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Seems that Morgana had been listening to the conversation. Ren and Ryuji gave Morgana a nod.

 

Soon enough, the three found themselves headed for the train to Yongen-Jaya. On the way, they found Ashido. “Oh hi!” called out Ashido as she waved to Ryuji and Ren, not knowing Morgana is in Ren’s bag.

 

“Hey Ashido,” said Ryuji.

 

“What are you two up to?” Ashido had a bright smile on her face.

 

“We’re headed to a cafe,” answered Ren. “It’s in Yongen-Jaya. Cafe Leblanc.”

 

“Sound fun. Do you guys mind if I tag along?”

 

“Not really,” said Ryuji. “The train to there should be getting here soon, so we should probably get goin’.” Ren, Ryuji, and Ashido headed towards the train.

 

* * *

  


Soon enough, they were in Yongen. Ren traversed the area like he was there yesterday. He knew exactly where to go. “Here it is,” said Ren as he walked up the front door. Over the door, ‘Cafe Leblanc’ is shown.

 

“This is it?” asked Ashido.

 

“Oh yeah it is,” said Ryuji. “Trust me, you’ll love it.” Ryuji entered Leblanc, followed by Ren and Ashido. Inside they noticed multiple. The first being the man behind the counter. He wore an apron over his clothes. His head, however, is a coffee pot full of coffee. There are two people sitting at the counter. The first is a woman wearing skimpy clothes and has blonde pigtails. The second is a man wearing a suit and has sleek dark blue hair.

 

Ren couldn’t help but smile as he saw them. As they entered, the man behind the counter looked straight at them. “Ah, new customers,” said the man behind the counter. “What can I get you?”

 

“The house blend and curry please,” blurted out Ren.

 

“Coming right up.” Ren, Ryuji, and Ashido sat down in a booth and soon afterward, the coffee and curry were ready. As Ashido ate the curry, she smiled.  


“This is good!” she said enthusiastically.

 

Even as Ren ate, he couldn’t look away from the two people sitting at the counter. “Excuse me, can I ask you something?” said Ren to the one sitting closest to him, which is the woman.

 

“Go right ahead,” said the woman as she turned around, smiling at Ren.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

“I’m Ann. Ann Takamaki.” Ryuji choked on a bit of his food when he heard that.

 

“Ah, alright. Thanks.”

 

“You’re welcome.” Ann turned back around and sighed. After placing money on the counter, she left without saying another word.

 

After a few minutes, the man sitting at the counter stood up. “Thank you for the meal, Sojiro,” said the man.

 

“Come anytime, Yusuke,” replied Sojiro. With that Yusuke left the building.

 

* * *

 

Soon, they finished up their curry. After paying, they left the cafe and began heading back home. On the way to the station, they saw the two from before. “Ugh, that dumb kid. He probably thought I was hot and tried to hit on me,” said Ann as she lit a cigarette. Hearing Ann speak him, Ren hid behind a corner, followed by

 

“Weren’t you a model during high school?” asked Yusuke.

 

“For a bit… I had to quit because of _that_ bastard.” Ren felt a lump in his throat. Ryuji’s hands instinctively made fists.

 

“The kid must have seen you in a magazine.”

 

“It doesn’t make it right. Even with heroes, this world is run on desire.”

 

“You use your body to get what you want. Wouldn’t be guilty of what you hate, as well?”

 

Ann scoffs. “I use my looks to ahead in the world. If I don’t, I’d just become a pawn to somebody, like I was before.”

 

Ren couldn’t bear to listen anymore. He walked away with Ryuji and Ashido. “We’re gonna be heading off now,” said Ryuji. “See ya later, Ashido.”

 

“Bye!” said Ashido as she waved goodbye. Ren and Ryuji began to walk off. Once Ashido thought there was enough distance between them, she began to follow. “I just know something is up with those two,” she said quietly.

 

Morgana jumped out of Ren’s bag. “Finally!’ he called out. “I can talk.”

 

“He had a cat in his bag?” Ashido was confused. She had multiple questions in her head, mostly about Morgana being inside Ren’s bag.

 

“You heard what she said?” asked Ryuji in an angry tone.

 

Morgana sighed. “Indeed. What Lady Ann said is troubling.”

 

“Yeah, it is! Kamoshida is still on the loose.”

 

Kamoshida? Ashido is getting more confused by the second. “Well, no use in waiting. Let’s deal with him,” said Ren as he took out his phone. He opened up the Metanav and took a deep breath. “Suguru Kamoshida.”

 

A voice came out from his phone. “Candidate not found.” Ren’s heart nearly stopped.

 

“What?!” yelled Ryuji. “That can’t be right!”

 

“Maybe somebody got to him before us,” said Ren hopefully, despite the unlikeliness of it.

 

“Well, look him up,” said Morgana. Ren opened up an internet browser and searched for Kamoshida.

 

“It… It says he was killed,” said Ren.

 

“Holy shit,” said Ryuji.

 

“That does explain why his palace doesn’t exist anymore,” added Morgana.

 

“Damn…”

 

Morgana shook his head. “We shouldn’t let this shake us. Mementos should still be open to us.”

 

“Yeah… Ren, let’s do this.”

 

Ren opened up the Metanav and spoke. “Mementos,” he said. Quickly, Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana all disappeared.

 

“The hell? Where did they go? And what is a Mementos?” asked Ashido to herself in surprise. “I gotta get to the bottom of this.”

 

* * *

 

The three found themselves in an empty version of where they were. Nobody was there, except for Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana. On top of that, Morgana wasn’t just a cat anymore. He had turned into an anthropomorphic bipedal cat. His collar turned into a yellow bandana and he gained a utility belt. “I’m finally free!” exclaimed Morgana.

 

“Yeah, yeah. We get it,” said Ryuji. “Let’s just find the entrance, and go as deep as we can.” The three headed for the nearest underground subway entrance and began to head down into Mementos.

 

The entrance to Mementos was the same as it always has been, but now it sent a chill down the three’s spines. One word rang through their heads: Yaldaboath. The monstrous creator of Mementos and the Metaverse. Now, Ren’s and Ryuji’s outfits changed. Ren’s outfit had a black trench coat with a gray collared shirt, black trousers, dark brown Cuban heeled boots, and a pair of red gloves. Ryuji’s had a black jacket and pants with knee pads, a red ascot, combat boots, and a pair of yellow gloves. Along with the outfits, their masks had returned.

 

“I can’t wait to beat that bastard’s face in,” said Ryuji, gripping tightly onto his weapon, which had also formed upon entering Mementos.

 

“If we free this world, then this will all be worth it,” said Morgana.

 

“Alright, let’s do this,” said Ren. The three then continued deeper into Mementos; heading towards the Path of Qimranut.

 

Morgana, who had transformed into a bus, drove across the rails. Then they saw it. A shadow. After waiting for it to turn around, Margana rammed his body straight into the back of the shadow, ambushing it.

 

The shadow shifted. It transformed into a slime. That slime then split into three. Ren and Ryuji exited Morgana, and then Morgana turned back into his battle-ready form. It’s was time to fight. Ren summoned Arsene, and called out, “Eiha!”. Curse energy surrounded one of the slimes, damaging it. Ryuji then ran towards another slime, electrified his weapon, and slammed his lead pipe straight on top of it.

 

“Time for me to handle this,” said Morgana. “Mercurius, garu!” Morgana’s persona appeared behind him. Its body was mostly blue, with red eyes. It wore golden shoulder pads and shoes. At the end of its shoes, were large blue wings. Immediately after Mercurius appeared, one of the slimes was hit with a wind attack, knocking it down. Morgana used this opportunity to use the same wind attack on the other two slimes, knocking them down as well.

 

“Alright, time for an all-out attack!” called out Ren. The three ran towards the slimes, attacking them with a fury of blows.

 

Once it was over and the slimes had been defeated, Morgana landed and spoke. “Mission accomplished.”

 

* * *

 

The three continued on through Mementos, fighting the shadows that they came across until they hit the end of the section of Mementos they were in.  


“This is it,” said Morgana. “We’re going to have to make ourselves more known from this point onward.”

 

“I just hope we don’t fall into the same trap we did before,” added Ryuji.

 

“I know we won’t,” said Ren, as he smiled at Ryuji. “Anyways, we should head back.”

 

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

 

* * *

  


From that point, the three would sometimes head to Mementos to fight shadows while they waited for school to start.

 

On the first day of school, Ren and Ryuji were walking up the entrance when Mina ran up to them. She asked them only one question. “What’s a Mementos?”


	4. Quirk Assessment

Ren and Ryuji were surprised. “What!? How do you…? Why do you...?” began Ryuji, trying to think of a way to somehow fix this.

 

“I saw you two talking to a cat and then disappear,” said Ashido. “I want answers.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Ren. He hoped if he held his ground, Ashido would stop.

 

“No, no. I thought about this for a long time, so I know what happened. How did you guys disappear?” Ashido stomped her foot on the ground. She was serious.

 

“We can’t tell you here,” said Ryuji. “That is if we knew what you were talking about.”

 

“Thanks, Sakamoto. Now really I know you two are hiding something from me.”

 

“Look Ashido,” began Ren. “We’ll tell you about this later. But for now, we can’t.”

 

Ashido raised her eyebrow. She didn’t like this answer. “If you say so… I’ll be seeing you later then.” Ashido then walked into the building.

 

“Holy shit, we ‘effed up that quickly?” asked Ryuji.

 

“Yeah,” responded Ren. The two then walking into the building, without saying another word.

 

* * *

 

When Ren and Ryuji arrived at the classroom, there were already a few people there. Soon a blue haired student arrived. He looked around the classroom and saw a blonde haired student. The blonde student had his feet on his desk “Take your feet off the desk,” said the blue-haired student.

 

“What?” replied the blonde student.

 

“Take your feet off of that desk, now!”

 

“Huh?” It sounded like the blonde student was mocking the other.

 

“It’s only the first day, and you’re already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property.”

 

“You’re kidding me, right? Did your old school put a stick up your ass, or were you just born with it?” Already, Ren and Ryuji took note of the blonde student.

 

“... Let’s just start over. I’m Tenya Iida, from the Soumei Private Academy.” Tenya moved his hands while he talked.

 

“Soumei, huh? So you think you’re better than me? I’m gonna have fun tearing you a new one.”

 

“Yep, I think he might be a candidate for a palace,” whispered Ryuji to Ren.

 

“Are you threatening me?” asked Tenya. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?” Tenya then turned to the front door. “It’s him...” The rest of the classed turned to the front door as well. It was the green haired boy from before.

 

“Um… Hi,” the boy didn’t seem to like the sudden attention.

 

“Good morning! I am Tenya Iida, from-”

 

“Yeah, I know. I’m Izuku Midoriya. It’s super nice to meet you.”

 

“Midoriya… You realized there was something more to the exam, didn’t you?” This question caught Midoriya off guard. “You must be very perceptive, and I have completely misjudged you. I admit you are far superior to me.”

 

“Um, I find that hard to believe.”

 

“I recognize that messed up hair!” called out a voice behind Midoriya. “Falling boy!” Midoriya turned around to see the girl he saved at the entrance exams.

 

“You were amazing!” The girl seems to be very enthusiastic.

 

“Oh, uh, I should probably be thanking you for going in and talking to Present Mic.”

 

“Huh? How did you know about that?”

 

“Oh, I.. Um… What?”

 

“What do you think we’re doing today, besides orientation? I wonder what our teachers are like. I can’t wait to meet everybody!”

 

“If you’re just here to make friends, you can pack up and leave now,” said a voice from behind the girl. It was from… a man in a sleeping bag? “Welcome to UA’s hero course.” The man doesn’t seem to be enthusiastic. The man stood up and unzipped his sleeping bag. “It took you all eight seconds to shut up. That’s not going to work. Time is precious, and rational students and rational students would understand that.” The man turned to the class. “Hell. I’m Shota Aizawa, your teacher.” Everybody in the class was surprised. “Let’s get to it.” He took athletic uniforms out of his sleeping bag. “Put these on and head outside.”

 

* * *

 

 

“A quirk assessment test?” asked the class in unison.

 

“But… Orientation ” said the girl. “We’re gonna miss it.”

 

“If you really want to make it in the big leagues, you can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies,” said Aizawa. “Here at UA, we’re not tethered to traditions. I get to run my class however I see fit. You’ve all taken standardized tests throughout your lives, but you never got to use your quirks in physical exams. The country is still trying to pretend we’re all created equal, by not letting those with power excel. It’s not rational. One day, the education system will learn.”

 

Aizawa turned to the blonde student. “Bakugou, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam. What was your farthest distance throw with a softball in junior high?”

 

“67 meters,” replied Bakugou. “I think.”

 

“Right. Try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes, just stay in the circle.”

 

Bakugou got in position and held a softball. “Alright. You asked for it.” Once Bakugou threw the ball, he used his quirk to cause an explosion, propelling the ball even further than what he would normally do.

 

“All of you need to know your maximum capabilities.” The ball landed. “It’s the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro-hero.” Aizawa lifted up his phone, showing how far Bakugou threw the ball. 705.2 meters.

 

“Woah…” said Ryuji.

 

“Are you kidding me? 705 meters?” said a kid with yellow and black hair.

 

“I wanna go. That looks like fun,” said Ashido.

 

“This is what I’m talking about,” said a black haired student. “Using our quirks as much as we want!”

 

“So this looks fun?” said Aizawa. “You have three years here to become a hero. You think it’s all going to be games? Idiots.” Aizawa smirked. “Today you will compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will be expelled immediately.”

 

“Holy shit…” said Ryuji. The entire class was taken aback.

 

“Like I said, I get to decide how my class runs. Understand? If that’s a problem, you can head home now.”

 

“You can’t send one of us home!” called out the brown-haired girl. “I mean, we just got here. Even if it wasn’t the first day, it’s unfair.”

 

“And you think natural disasters are? What about power-hungry villains? Are catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities fair? No. The world is full of unfairness. It’s a hero’s job to try and combat that. If you want to be a pro, you’re going to have to push yourself to the limit. For the next three years, UA will throw one terrible hardship after another. So go beyond. Show me it’s no mistake that you’re here. Now, we’re just wasting time by talking. Let the games begin.”

 

With that, the competition began. They all competed in multiple competitions. The 50-Meter Dash, Grip Strength, Standing Long Jump, Repeated Side Step. Throughout those, Midoriya didn’t use his quirk, landing him in last place. Meanwhile. Ren and Ryuji did decently on those. They didn’t get first place, but they weren’t close to last. Soon, it was time for the Ball Throw competition.

 

“Ren, don’t you feel sorta bad for Midoriya?” asked Ryuji. “He’s gonna get expelled if he keeps going at the rate he is.”

 

“Yeah, it’s like he can’t use his power,” said Ren. “Now that I think about, he did break a lot of bones during the entrance exam.”

 

“Maybe he can’t use his quirk that much.”

 

“That’s probably what it is.”

 

Once it was Midoriya’s turn for the ball throw, he went into position and looked at the ball for a second. “Maybe he will use his power for this,” said Ryuji.

 

“If he doesn’t, then he’ll be going home for sure,” said Tenya.

 

“Of course he will! He’s a quirkless loser!” called out Bakugou.

 

“What do you mean? He has a quirk. Did you not hear about what he did during the entrance exam?”

 

Once Midoriya began to throw the ball, his quirk activated. He released the ball, and… it didn’t go that far.

 

“46 meters!” called out a robot that was recording the scores. Midoriya looked crushed.

 

“What gives? I was trying to use my quirk…” said Midoriya.

 

“I erased your quirk,” said Aizawa. His eyes were red, and his hair floated like it was being pushed up by the wind. His scarf has broken apart into multiple ropes, each floating. “The judges for the exams were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to become a hero.”

 

“Wait, you did what to my…” Midoriya stepped back. “Wait, those goggles. I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. You’re Eraserhead.”

 

“You’re not ready. You can’t control your quirk. Did you plan on breaking your bones again? Counting on somebody to save your useless body.”

 

“No, not at all!” Aizawa used his scarf to pull Midoriya close to him.

 

“No matter what your intentions are, you would be nothing more than a liability in battle. Your reckless passion is similar to another hero I know. Even with your drive, you’re worthless if you can only throw a single punch. Sorry Midoriya, with your power there is no way you can become a hero.” Aizawa’s hair went down and his scarf went back in place, letting go of Midoriya. “I returned your quirk. Take your final throw.”

 

Midoriya got back into position and stared at the ground, thinking on a way to throw the ball without breaking too much. Suddenly, a determined look overcame Midoriya. Midoriya began to throw the ball, and just at the last moment, he activated the quirk in his finger. This caused the ball to go flying. The class was surprised by how far the ball flew. Once the ball landed, Aizawa looked at his phone. 705.3 meters. “Mr. Aizawa,” began Midoriya. Midoriya turned his hand into a fist, even with his broken finger. “You see, I’m still standing.”

 

“This kid…”

 

“He threw it over 700 meters!” yelled out one student.

 

“But his finger looks broken,” said Tenya. “What an odd quirk.”

 

“Impossible…” said Bakugou. Anger filled Bakugou as he ran towards. “Deku, you bastard! Tell me how you did that or you’re dead!” Before Bakugou could reach Midoriya, Aizawa’s scarf stopped him in his tracks. “What the hell? Why are you stopping me? And why is it so damn strong.”

 

“Because it’s a capture weapon, made of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy. Stand down. Don’t make me use my quirk so much. I get serious dry eye.” Aizawa let go of Bakugou. “Whoever is next can go up.”

 

Midoriya backed away from Bakugou and headed back to the rest of the good. Ryuji walked up to Midoriya. “Hey man, are you alright?” asked Ryuji.

 

“Yeah, that looked like it hurt a lot,” said a brown-haired girl.

 

“Yeah, sure,” said Midoriya. “I’m fine.”

 

“That’s good,” said Ryuji. “Do you mind if I ask ya a question?”

 

“Um, sure.”

 

“What’s Bakugou’s full name.”

 

“... Katsuki Bakugou. Why?”

 

“Just wondering.”

 

* * *

 

The competition continued with Sit-Ups, Sitting Toe Touches, and Long Distance Running. Midoriya fell behind, due to having to deal with a broken finger. “Alright, time for results,” said Aizawa. “You’ve all been ranked from best to worst. ‘Ll just pull up the whole list. It isn’t worth it just going over each individual score.” Aizawa pressed a button on his phone, creating a hologram with a list of all the scores from the tests. Ren and Ryuji ranked somewhere in the middle, Ashido ranked in the top tens, and Midoriya came in last.

 

Once Aizawa made the list go away, he spoke. “I was lying. Nobody is getting expelled. It was just a rational deception, to make sure you all gave it your all.”

 

“That was pretty nerve-wracking,” said a black-haired student.

 

“I’m always up for a challenge, so it was fun,” said a red-haired student.

 

“We’re done for today. You’re all dismissed,” said Aizawa. “And Midoriya, take this and hand it to the nurse.” Aizawa handed Midoriya a slip of paper. Soon the class dispersed and headed home.

 

Just outside the entrance, Ashido ran up to Ren and Ryuji. “Alright, I want to know what you two are up to, now!” Ashido proclaimed.

 

“Jeez, alright,” said Ryuji. “We could use another member so maybe this won’t be that bad.”

 

“Ryuji, are you sure about this?” asked Ren.

 

“I mean, do we have a choice? Just take out the Metanav.” Ren did just that. ‘Now, watch this, Ashido. Katsuki Bakugou.”

  
A voice came out from Ren’s phone. “ _Candidate Found._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this being a dialog heavy chapter. The next chapter will be more fun, I promise.


	5. Here We Go!

“What are you two trying to do?” asked Ashido with skepticism.

 

“Hold on,” said Ryuji. “Now we need a location. Ren, any ideas?”

 

“Well, let’s see,” began Ren. “Hmm...”

 

“Location for what?” asked Ashido. ”Are… Are you trying to find out where he lives?”

 

“Ashido. Calm down. We’re not going to go track down where Bakugou and beat him up.”

 

“Yeah,” added Ryuji. “That’ll definitely get us kicked out of UA.”

 

Ren’s phone let out a chime. “ _Candidate Found,_ ” came out from his phone.

 

“Damn, that was actually pretty easy.”

 

“But now we have to find the distortion,” said Ren.

 

“You guys aren’t making any sense,” began Ashido. “Distortion for what?”

 

“It’s what Bakugou mistakes UA as.”

 

“It could really be anything,” said Ryuji, grinning. “So, we should probably just go over the ones we know, Ren.”

 

“That would be a good start.”

 

“Good enough for me. Castle, Museum, Bank, Tomb, Space, Casino, Ship, and Prison.”

 

“ _Candidates Not Found_ ," called out from Ren’s phone.

 

“Damn.”

 

“What? I’m so confused,” said Ashido. She placed her hand on her forehead.

 

“What could it be?” asked Ryuji, ignoring Ashido’s confusion.

 

“Maybe some sort of fortress,” said Ren

 

“ _Candidate Found_ ,” called out Ren’s phone. “ _Beginning Transportation_.”

 

Ren, Ryuji, Ashido, and even Morgana, who was in Ren’s bag, felt a ripple go through their body. The world around them changed. The skies darkened as if they were covered in ash. The distance between UA and the four greatened. The ground turned from pavement to dirt and patches of dead grass. Ren and Ryuji’s clothes shifted to their thief attire and Morgana had transformed into his bipedal form.

 

They had entered their first palace.

 

“What the!?” called out Ashido in surprise. “Where am I?”

 

“Ashido, you wanted to know what we were doin’, right?” said Ryuji. “So, now you’re gonna see it first hand.”  


“Ryuji? Is that you? What happened to your clothes?”

 

“That’s simple,” said Morgana, stepping towards Ashido. “The clothes have transformed to represent their inner rebellion.”

 

“Is that a talking cat?!” asked Ashido, ignoring Morgana’s explanation.

 

“I’m not a cat!”

 

“Jus’ follow us, will explain everything to ya’,” said Ryuji.

 

Ashido nodded. “Just show me the way,” said Ashido. “And don’t anything out on me!” Ryuji, Ren, and Morgana began to head forward towards the palace, Ashido following behind.

 

* * *

 

Before they made it to the fortress, they found a ruined camp. The camp was abandoned and seemed to have been involved in a battle. Just beyond the camp was a wall of fire, just tall enough that they couldn’t jump over it. “Wait, so what’s the cat’s name?” asked Ashido.

 

“Morgana,” said Ren. “That reminds me, don’t call us by own names in here.”

 

“Huh? Why?”

 

“We’re in a palace, which are basically their owner’s hearts,” said Ryuji.

 

“So, what we do here might affect Bakugou. Not using our names just limits some of the negative effects,” added Morgana.

 

“So he knows you guys are missing with heart?”

 

“No, the effects are subconscious.”

 

“So, what do you want me to call you guys?”

 

“Call me Skull,” said Ryuji.

 

“I’m Mona,” said Morgana.

 

“Joker,” said Ren. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a twig breaking. Listening closer, they could hear a conversation, which seemed to be getting closer.

 

“Why are we even patrolling this area?” asked a voice. “Nothing ever comes around here.”

 

“I was wondering the same thing,” said another voice.

 

“Get behind cover,” whispered Ren. The four got behind a stone barricade, hiding them from what could be patrolling guards. After listening to the two talk for a while, Ren peeked his head to see what the two were doing. He saw two figures wearing full samurai armour, and a make resembling a face. Ren knew what he had to do. “Skull, when I give the signal, go for the left one.”

 

“You sure?” whispered Ryuji. “You’re usually the one who handles the surprise attack stuff.”

 

“I wouldn’t trust you to do it if I wasn’t sure.” Ren smiled at Ryuji. Ren continued to watch the two guards until they turned around. “Now.” Ren and Ryuji got out from cover and charged at the two guards.

“What are they doing?” asked Ashido.

 

“Can’t you see? They’re ambushing the shadows,” said Morgana.

 

Ren jumped onto the shoulders of the right shadow and grabbed into its mask. With a tight grip, Ren began to rip the mask off from the shadow’s face. At the same time, Ryuji had run up to the left shadow. Grabbing its left shoulder, Ryuji spun the shadow around to face him. While still holding the shadow’s shoulder, Ryuji grabbed onto the left edge of the shadow’s mask and pulled. At the same time, both masked were pulled off, revealing their true faces; the faces resembled black voids and they had two glowing red dots for eyes.

 

Next, the two shadows began to shift and transform. Ren and Ryuji jumped back as Morgana ran up to join with. The shadows transformed into what appeared to be Jack O’ Lanterns wearing a cloak and a witch’s hat. They also held actual lanterns. “These guys?” asked Ryuji to himself.

 

“Should be no problem,” said Ren. Suddenly, Ren’s mask disappeared. “Arsene!” Arsene appeared behind Ren.

 

“What is that!?” yelled Ashido. “This is all too much.”

 

“Cleave!” After Ren spoke, Arsene slashed at the right shadow, causing some damage.

 

Ashido clenched her fists. She felt useless just watching them fight. She had to do something. She ran up the group. “What are you doing?!” called out Ryuji to Ashido.

 

“I’m helping!” responded Ashido with determination. Using her quirk, Ashido created a blob of acid and threw it at the right shadow. However, as the acid hit the shadow it dissipated. “Oh, come on!”

 

“Was that supposed to hurt?” asked the shadow as it laughed. “Allow me!” The shadow lunged itself at Ashido.

 

“Mercurius!” yelled Morgana. Mercurius appeared behind Morgana and dashed towards Ashido. As he reached Ashido, Mercurius grabbed and took hold of Ashido and pulled her out of the way. “That was close! Be more careful!”

 

“You damn shadows!” said Ryuji. “Take this!” Ryuji took out his firearm, a shotgun, and fired out both shadows. When the bullets hit, both shadows we knocked down. “Ready guys?!”

 

“Yeah!” said Ren and Morgana in unison. The three ran towards the knocked down enemies for an all-out attack.

 

Once it was over, Ryuji landed and spoke. “Freakin’ boring!” What was left of the shadows was a single cord rope.

 

“What were those things?!” asked Ashido.

 

“They’re shadows,” said Ren. “To be simple, they’re basically the negative qualities of everybody. Plus, a lot of them live in palaces.”

 

“And the things you guys summoned?”

 

“Personas,” said Morgana. “The representation of one’s personality.”

 

Ashido sighed. “I don’t get it.”

 

“I didn’t either when I first started,” said Ryuji.

 

The four then continued to explore the camp until the saw a large catapult. One thing was missing, though: the rope to hold down the throwing mechanism. “Hey, you think we can use the rope for that catapult?” asked Ren.

 

“Prolly,” responded Ryuji. “Let’s try and find out.” The four went to the catapult and tied the throwing mechanism down to the rest of the catapult, “Well, now what?”

 

“We need to go get over that wall of fire,” said Ren.

 

“Are you thinking what I am thinking?”

 

“I probably am,” said Ren, grinning. “Alright, guys get on the catapult.”

 

“You gotta be joking,” said Ashido.

 

“Knowing them, I’d say they around,” said Morgana as he jumped onto the catapult.

 

“You guys better be right about this working,” said Ashido as she got onto the catapult.

 

“Trust me, it’ll work,” said Ryuji as he and Ren got on.

 

“Be sure to brace for impact,” said Ren. Taking out his knife, he cut the rope. And with that, the catapult launched the group.

 

* * *

 

The catapult sent them far. They flew above the wall of fire, and they even managed to barely clear the walls to the fortress. The landing, however, wasn’t as nice. “Ow,” groaned Ashido.

 

“At least… we made it,” said Ryuji.

 

“Who are you?” asked a distorted voice. The four turned to see where the voice was coming from and saw Bakugou. He wore armour similar to a Japanese warlord.

 

“Bakugou?!” called out Ashido.

 

“That isn’t Bakugou. It’s his shadow,” said Morgana.

 

“Why are in MY fortress?” asked Shadow Bakugou, narrowing his eyes at the group.

 

Ryuji went straight to the point. “We’re here to steal your treasure, jackass!”

 

“How forward of you,” said Shadow Bakugou. He cracked his knuckles. “For that, I’ll make your deaths less painful than the rest!” Shadow Bakugou jumped towards Morgana first, propelling himself by creating small explosions from the palms of his hand. Once he got to Morgana, Shadow Bakugou kicked Morgana in the side of the head, pushing Morgana over to the right and knocking him over.

 

“You bastard!” yelled Ryuji. Ryuji ran up to Shadow Bakugou and tried to him a jab to the stomach. However, Shadow Bakugou grabbed Ryuji’s hand and created an explosion. “Arg!” yelled out Ryuji in pain. Shadow Bakugou then kicked Ryuji in the stomach, knocking Ryuji into Ren. Ren and Ryuji both fell over.

 

“Guards, take them away.”

 

“What about the pink one?” asked one of the guards.

 

“She’s weaker than the rest. Nothing to gain from killing her.” Shadow Bakugou turned to Ashido. “I suggest you run away. I’m giving you this one chance.”

 

But Ashido couldn’t run. She wanted to say it was because she couldn’t just run away when somebody was in danger, but that isn’t the truth. The truth is that she was scared. “I said run!” yelled Shadow Bakugou.

 

“I… I can’t,” said Ashido.

 

Ren was quick to speak. “Don’t let him scare you! We believe in you!” yelled out Ren.

 

“You’re right…” Ashido clenched her fists. “You don’t scare me!”

 

“What was that?” said Shadow Bakugou, filling with anger.

 

“You’re nothing more than a bully who gets rid of what he doesn’t like!”

 

“I’ll make you regret those words,” said Shadow Bakugou, getting ready to kill Ashido.

 

“And I won’t back down!”

 

“ _It’s finally time_ ,” said a voice inside Ashido’s head. It was familiar, yet not at the same time. Then, a searing pain began in Ashido’s head, as if it was being ripped in half. Clutching onto her head, Ashido let out a yelp of pain. “ _Beginning our contract will allow you to help your new friends. The people you know have already pinned you as a hero, why don’t you embrace the role? Your ‘other you’ within wishes it so._ ” The pain only got progressively worse. Tears began forming in Ashido’s eyes as she tried to somehow bare through the pain. “ _I am thou, thou art I… Do not look back, for it is time for you to become the hero you were meant to be!_ ”

 

The pain finally went away. A mask formed on Ashido’s face. The mask resembled a raccoon. It was mostly white, with a large pink stripe going across where the eyes are. “How did she get that?!” asked Shadow Bakugou. Instinctively, Ashido tried to pull off the mask. Immediately, she felt that the mask was attached to her skin as if it was part of it, but she still continued to rip it off.

 

“Come, Lozen!” yelled Ashido as she ripped off her mask, blood began to flow down her face before being quickly blown away by a sudden surge of blue energy. Her uniform shifted to a purple jacket with a hood and elbow pads and black pants. Her shoes turned to boots. A figure also appeared behind her. It had pink skin, like Ashido, and a feminine figure. Its hair was long, flowing white, and was seemingly made out of a liquid. The figure’s clothes were brown and purple and moved as if they were being blown by the wind. “So this is a persona, huh? Yeah, I can get used to this,” said Ashido as she grinned.

 

“Don’t think that'll save you. You only sealed your death! Guards! Kill her!” yelled Shadow Bakugou. Using the time they have, Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana all got up. They ran up to Ashido to join her in battle. The shadow guards began to shift and combine into each other. They transformed into a man with long flowing hair, and his only clothing being a red cloth. A flower also grew from his head.

 

“Are you ready Ashido? This’ll be your first real battle,” said Ren.

 

“I’m way more than ready,” said Ashido. “Now, time to use Lozen. Agi!” As commanded, Lozen sent a fire attack towards the shadow, knocking it down. Using this advantage, Ashido took out her close range weapon, the nunchaku, and attacked the shadow. Next, Ren ran up the shadow and slashed at the shadow.

 

“Garu!” called out Morgana as Mercurius appeared behind him. Mercurius then sent a wind attack at the shadow. “Ryuji, it’s your turn now.”

 

“Finally,” said Ryuji as he stepped forward. “Seiten Taisei!” Ryuji’s persona formed above Ryuji. “Zio!” Seiten Taisei then sent a lightning bolt at the shadow. By now the shadow looks very damaged.

 

“I’m gonna knock down that shadow again,” said Ashido. “When I do, let’s do that attacking thing you guys do.”

 

“An all-out attack?” asked Ren.

 

“Yeah, that.” Ashido made her mask go away again, summoning Lozen. “Lozen, use Agi!”. As Lozen did before, she sent a fire attack towards the shadow. As the shadow was knocked down, the four rushed the shadow with their close-ranged weapons. When the dust from the attacked settled. Ashido landed on the ground. “Sorry, did I burn you?” As she said that, the shadow blow up in a puff of smoke.

 

“We did it!” said Ryuji. Before she could celebrate, Ashido fell to her knees.

 

“Why… Why am I so tired?”

 

“Awakening to your persona drains the energy out of you,” said Ren as he scanned the area for danger. Once he saw that nobody was there, he helped Ashido up. “Come on, let’s go. Bakugou’s Shadow must have slinked off somewhere while we were fighting.” The group opened up the door to the fortress and began to head out. On their way back to the palace entrance, they noticed that the wall of fire was gone.

 

“That’s pretty weird, but hey! I’m not complaining,” said Ryuji.

 

* * *

 

Once they had returned to the real world all of their clothes had shifted back to their regular state, and Morgana had turned back to his cat form. Ashido leaned onto a wall to support herself. “That... Was… Amazing!” exclaimed Ashido. “I have soooo many questions.”

 

“We’d be happy to answer them,” said Morgana.

 

“You really are a talking cat!”

 

“Did you really still doubt that! And I’m not a cat either!”

 

“Uh, whatever you say, Morgana. Anyways, I want to thank you guys too.”

 

“Why are you thanking us?” asked Ryuji. “You’re the one who saved our asses.”

 

“If it weren’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have had the courage to stand up to him.” Ashido smiled at the group. “And, uh, you guys can call me Mina instead of Ashido from now on.”

 

Ren felt something strange when she said that.

 

_I am thou, thou art I…_

_Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 

_It shall become the wings of rebellion_

_That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 

_With the birth of the Lovers Persona,_

_I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

_Shall lead to freedom and new power…_

 

Once Ren realized what had happened, he knew this wasn’t going to be as simple as he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy. The fourth member.
> 
> And if you couldn't tell, “Sorry, did I burn you?” is Mina's finishing touch


	6. Explanations

“If that’s the case, then call us by our first names. Should be easier,” said Ryuji. “Right, Ren?”

 

“Ah, yeah,” said Ren, trying to compose himself.

 

“So, what was that place?” asked Mina. “If I’m gonna help you guys, I have to know what it’s all about.”

 

“Well, uh…” said Ryuji, caught off guard by Mina’s willingness for action.

 

“That was a palace,” said Morgana. “Palaces are a person’s distorted desires manifested. People who have strong enough negative or corrupt thoughts get a palace, but not everybody who does is evil.”

 

“Yeah, an old friend of our had a palace,” said Ryuji. “Not evil in the slightest.”

 

“So, you’re telling me that Bakugou has a really strong desire for… something, that desire is something negative, but not necessarily evil?” asked Mina.

 

“Basically.”

 

“So, what are you guys even planning on doing in there? Do you beat up that fake version of Bakugou.”  


“Well, yes and no,” said Ren.

 

“The main goal for us is to find the treasure within the palace,” said Morgana. “If we find, and steal, the treasure, the palace will cease to exist, along with the owner’s distorted desires.”

 

“But, we usually end up fightin’ their shadows anyways,” said Ryuji. “So don’t be surprised if we fight Bakugou’s shadow.”

 

“And why is his uh… shadow different from all the other ones?” asked Mina.

 

“He’s the palace owner,” said Morgana. “His shadow, which is his repressed negative qualities, is strong enough to create a palace. Like UA, his shadow represents how he views himself.”

 

“I think I get it now,” said Mina.

 

“We’re glad to help,” said Ren.

 

“Just, one more thing.” Mina paused. “Why do you guys know so much about this?”

 

“Well, you might not believe us, but...” began Ryuji.

 

“We came from another world,” said Ren.

 

“What?” asked Mina in surprise. “What do you mean another world?”

 

“We’re from another world. One without quirks.”

 

“But… You guys have quirks. I’ve seen you guys use your quirks.”

 

“We got ‘em when we came to this world,” said Ryuji. “Had to train a lot to get used to them, though.”

 

“If what you’re saying is true… This is so weird.” Mina placed two of her fingers on the bridge of her nose. “So, I’m guessing you dealt with palaces in your original world.”

 

“Yeah,” said Ren. “It all began when I was a second year.”

 

“Man, those were some great times,” said Ryuji said with a smile.

 

“Wait. Hold on a second,” began Mina. “Second year?”

 

“I was told they were aged down,” said Morgana.

 

“Yeah, we’re like 20 in our world,” said Ryuji.

 

“Oh god, you guys are old,” said Mina

 

“Shut up! We’re only five years older!”  


“Still old. Also, you were talking about the palaces as if you weren’t doing that stuff anymore in your world.”

 

“That’s because we got rid of the metaverse,” said Morgana. “Mementos, the palace for everybody, also has a treasure. Stealing the treasure caused mementos to cease to exist, and in turn, palaces also disappeared.”

 

“The reason we’re in this world is to get rid of the metaverse here,” said Ryuji.

 

“But why?” asked Mina. “We can do a lot of good with this.”

 

“It’s because of Yaldabaoth,” said Ren.

 

“Who?”

 

“Yaldabaoth. The God of Control. He wants to change this world into his image. We can’t let this happen, for everybody’s sake. And we know he’s there because he is the treasure.”

 

“The does sound bad. I want help even more down.” Mina’s face showed determination. “Just give me a codename and tell me when you guys go in, and we’ll defeat that guy in no time.”

 

“Codename, huh?” began Ryuji. “Ren got any ideas.”

 

Ren was quick to answer. “Raccoon,” he said.

 

“Ah, like the mask?”

 

“Hmm, Raccoon can work,” said Mina. “Raccoon it is!”

 

Ryuji looked at his phone. “Ah man, look at the time. We should prolly head home now,” he said.

 

“Already?” Mina huffed. “Well, see ya later guys.” Mina stood up. “And I’m looking forward to stealing some treasures.”

 

“Hell yeah!”

 

Ren felt the same strange feeling again.

  


_I am thou, thou art I…_

_Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 

_It shall become the wings of rebellion_

_That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 

_With the birth of the Fool Persona,_

_I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

_Shall lead to freedom and new power…_

 

Ren was confused. Why did he start a new bond? How did he start a new bond? Nobody was there besides Ryuji, Morgana, Mina, and him. Then, it hit him. It wasn’t a bond between him and a certain person, rather it was a bond between the Phantom Thieves as a whole.

 

As Mina walked off, Ryuji spoke. “We should prolly head home too.”

 

“Yeah,” replied Ren.

 

* * *

  


By the time the three made it home, it was dark out. “I see you found your first palace,” said Lazenza. “With such speed, as well.”

 

“The Phantom Thieves don’t rest when they know they have a job to do,” said Ryuji with a grin.

 

“But I implore you to be more careful, Shadows are more dangerous than before.”

 

“How?” asked Morgana.

 

“We are in a society that revolves around superpowers. Shadows will use their powers to their advantage. I’m sure you’ve already seen it.”

 

“Yeah,” began Ryuji. “That Shadow Bakugou tried to kill us.”

 

“All the more reason to proceed with care. You will all more likely than not face more dangerous opponents in the future.”

 

“Let’s just hope they aren’t too strong,” said Ren.

 

“And get stronger while we’re at it,” added Ryuji.

 

“Yeah, you’re right Ryuji.”

 

Later that night, Ren laid in his bed, thinking about everything. “Hey, Ren?” called out Morgana.

 

“What is it?” replied Ren.

 

“Are you happy that we’re gonna be the Phantom Thieves again?”

 

“It’s a mixed bag. It’s great that we can help people again, but… Now we know the purpose of palaces and Mementos.”

 

“Yeah… ”

 

“This world is pretty crazy. Superpowers, and new technology.”

 

“Speaking of tech, I’ll be helping you with infiltration tool, just like last time. Think of it like a contract.”

 

“Oh Morgana, you know you don’t have to think about it that way.”

 

“No, no. It’s fair this way. It’s an obligation of me to help everybody else. Besides fighting shadows and being our navigator with Futaba’s absence, I can help the team by helping you make infiltration tools.”

 

“Well, I can’t stop for doing this, so… It’s a deal.”

 

Once again, the strange feeling returned to Ren.

 

_I am thou, thou art I…_

_Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 

_It shall become the wings of rebellion_

_That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 

_With the birth of the Magician Persona,_

_I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

_Shall lead to freedom and new power…_

 

“Anyways, I’m going to go sleep. Goodnight, Morgana.”

 

“Goodnight, Ren.” Morgana let out a slight sigh before curling up next to Ren and going to sleep himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this being a short chapter! The next one will be longer.
> 
> Ren's current confidants are:  
> Fool - Rank One  
> Magician - Rank One  
> Lovers - Rank One


	7. Battle Training Begins!

When Ren awoke he wasn’t in his own room. Instead, it was a rather blue room. “Ah, welcome back to the Velvet Room,” said a voice. Ren turned to see Igor, the proprietor of the Velvet Room, sitting at his desk in the center of the room. Igor looked for a paper on his desk. “I see… A prison won’t do.” Before Ren could say or do anything, Igor snapped his fingers, causing the room to overtaken in a bright light. Ren, surprised, closed his eyes. He felt himself go numb.

 

“Oh man…” grumbled Ren. Whatever Igor did, it made Ren feel groggy. Once Ren opened his eyes, there was one thing that was very noticeable. The Velvet’s Room appearance had changed. Instead of being a prison, the room resembled the inside of a train. Ren sat in a booth, with Igor sitting across from Ren. In between the two, there was a table. Ren looked at a window to his right and saw that it was dark outside. He also noticed that the train he was in was going straight through what appeared to be an endless field.

 

“I see you’re confused,” said Igor, as he began to place tarot cards down onto the table. “Rightfully so. This is a big change. The appearance of the Velvet Room is a reflection of the feelings in one’s heart. In the past, the Velvet Room took the form of a prison. However, the feelings in your heart have changed, thus changing the Velvet Room.”

 

“That… makes sense.”

 

“I’m thankful that you understood so quickly. Now, allow me to speak of what I summoned you here for.” Igor took three of the tarot cards. “The Fool. The Magician. The Lovers. You understand why I took these cards, correct?”

 

Ren nodded. “The bonds I’ve made so far are represented by those, right?”

 

Igor chucked. “Good… Good… You really do understand this process.”

 

“What I don’t understand is why. What happened to my bonds from before?”

 

“Your prior bonds still exist. However, when you transferred worlds, the power you have gained from your bonds did not follow. As such, the opportunity for new bonds has arisen.”

 

“I see.”

 

“So, I implore you, continue with what you were doing. Create new bonds and strengthen the bond you have already created. Doing so will aid you in ending the metaverse.”

 

“I’m on it. You can count on me.” Ren smiled with confidence.

 

“As I will. The world depends on it.” Igor set down the three cards he took. “Now, it time for you return to your rest. You’ll need it.” Ren’s vision soon faded to darkness.

 

* * *

 

Ren woke up with a large yawn. “Oh you finally woke up,” said Morgana. “I thought I was going to have to wake you up myself.”

 

Ren gave off an awkward chuckle. “Yeah…” Ren got out of bed and got ready for school. Going down the stair, Ren saw Ryuji. “Hey, Ryuji.” Rena waved.

 

“Hey man,” said Ryuji as he waved back. “Jeez, any later and I would have left without you. That’s why I made you this.” Ryuji took a bottle and tossed it towards Ren. As Ren caught it, Ryuji spoke again. “It’s a breakfast shake.”

 

“Oh, thanks.” Ren opened the bottle and sipped at the shake.

 

“Now c’mon, we need to get goin’!” Ryuji and Ren, with Morgana in Ren’s bag, left the house and began to head to UA.

 

While on the train, the three met up with Mina. “Hey guys!” said Mina with a smile

 

“Yo.” Ryuji grinned. “I’m thinking we should head in again today.”

 

“I’m fine with that,” said Mina. “I’ll get to get used to all the new power stuff.”

 

Morgana popped his head out of Ren’s bag. “That would be a smart idea,” said Morgana. “Besides, even if we don’t have a deadline, we shouldn’t be slacking.”

 

“Agreed,” said Ren.”But, until then, let’s focus on class.” Both Mina and Ryuji let out a groan in response.

 

Once the four made it to UA, and their classroom, Ren, Ryuji, and Mina sat down in their respective seats, with Morgana hiding inside Ren’s desk. Soon, classes began. Ren found out that the class teachers were actually pro-heroes themselves. The first of which being Present Mic, their English teacher.

 

He wrote four sentences on a blackboard. “The man who I respect most is my father”, ”That is the house in which he lived”, “I will remember the day on which we both lived”, and “Please tell me all that you know.”

 

Present Mic turned to face Ren. “Amamiya, can you tell me which one of these sentences contains a mistake?”

 

Ren looked at the sentences for a second. “The last one,” said Ren.

 

“That’s correct! The relative pronoun is wrong.” Present Mic then continued to lecture.

 

As that was happening, Morgana spoke to Ren. “Good job Ren. If you keep your grades up, it’ll be easier for you to get around without suspicion.”

 

* * *

 

Classes continued up to lunch. After lunch, classes switched from the core basics to hero training. As the class waiting for a teacher, a very muscular man came in. “I am here!” yelled the man. “Coming through the door like a hero!”

 

“I can’t believe it’s really All Might,” said one student.

 

“So he really is a teacher. This year it gonna be totally awesome,” said a red-haired student.

 

“Is he wearing his silver-age costume?” asked a student that’s body resembled a frog. All Might marched into the classroom.

 

“It’s so retro,” said yet another student. While other students got excited, Ryuji and Ren didn’t, mostly because they aren’t from this world.

 

“Welcome to the most important class in UA High,” said All Might. “Think of it as Hero-ing 101. Here you will learn the basics of being a pro, and fight to the name of justice. Let’s get into it! Today’s lesson will pull no punches!” All Might took out a card with the word ‘BATTLE!’ on it.

 

“Fight training!” said Bakugou in excitement.

 

“Real combat?” asked Midoriya.

 

“But,” began All Might. “One of the keys to being a hero is-” All Might pointed at the wall “-looking good!” As All Might spoke, 22 boxes moved out from the wall, each numbed. “These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms, and the requests you sent in before school started.” The students in the class cheered in excitement.

 

“Man, everybody in this class sure is excited,” said Morgana. Ren nodded in agreement, not as excited as everybody else.

 

“Get yourselves suited up, and meet me at Training Ground Beta!”

 

Soon, All Might stood at the entrance to the training grounds. Students began to come through the entrance, wearing their hero costumes. “They say the clothes make the pros, ladies and gentlemen,” said All Might. “And behold, you are the proof.”

 

Ryuji wore a blue, red, and yellow jacket, with red pants. His hands were uncovered. He wore a white mask that resembled the skull of a monkey.

 

Ren wore a trenchcoat like his phantom thief attire, except there were golden buttons and a red ribbon. His butterfly mask was golden in color and has horns coming out on both sides.

 

Mina was wearing a purple and turquoise camouflage skintight bodysuit and a tan jacket with white fur on the collar. She wears a white mask as well.

 

“Take this to heart,” continued All Might. “You are all heroes in training. This is getting me all ramped up! You look so cool! Now, shall we get started, you bunch of newbies?!” The class spoke in excitement. “Now that you’re ready, it’s time for combat training.”

 

“Sir?” asked Iida, who was in white full-body armour. “This is the fake city from our entrance exam. Does that mean we’ll be conducting urban battles again?”

 

“Not quite. I’m going to move you two steps ahead. Most of the villain fights you see in the news take place outside. However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly evil villains take place indoors. Think about it. Backroom deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs. Truly intelligent criminals stay in the shadows. For this training exercise, you will be split into teams of good guys and bad guys, and fight two-on-two indoor battles, except for two groups of three.”

 

“Isn’t this a little advanced?” asked the frog student.

 

“The best training is what you get on the battlefield. But remember, you can’t just punch a robot this time. You’re actually fighting people.”

 

“Sir will you be deciding who wins?” asked a female student, who was showing off a lot of skin.

 

“How much can we hurt the other team?” asked Bakugou.

 

“Do we need to worry about the losing team being expelled like earlier?” asked a brown-haired girl.

 

“Will you be splitting us up by chance, or comparative skill?” asked Iida.

 

“Does this cape look good on me or what?” asked a flashy blonde-haired student.

 

“... I wasn’t finished talking,” said All Might. All Might took out a piece of paper. “Listen up! The situation is this: The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try and ruin their plan. To do that, the good guys either have to catch the evil-doers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the villains succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes. Time is limited, and we will choose teams by drawing slips of paper.”

 

“Isn’t there a better way?” asked Iida.

 

“Think about it. Pros often have to team up with heroes from all around other agencies on the spot. So maybe that’s the reason we’re seeing it here,” said Midoriya.

 

“Yes, I see. Life is a random series of events. Excuse my rudeness.”

 

“No sweats,” said All Might. “Let’s draw!”

 

Team A consisted of Izuku Midoriya, Ren Amamiya, and Ochako Uraraka, the brown-haired girl. Team B was Mezo Shoji, a tall boy with six arms, and Shouto Todoroki, a boy with white and red hair. Team C was Minoru Mineta, who had purple balls for hair, and Momo Yaoyorozu, the girl who was showing off a lot of skin. Team D was Katsuki Bakugou, Tenya Iida, and Ryuji Sakamoto. Team E was Mina Ashido and Yuuga Aoyama, the flashy blonde boy. Team F was Koji Kouda, a boy with a rock like head, and Rikido Sato, a brown-haired boy with full lips. Team G was Denki Kaminari, a boy with yellow and black hair, and Kyoka Jiro, a girl with headphone jacks for earlobes. Team H was Tsuyu Asui, a frog-like girl, and Fumikage Tokoyami, the boy with a crow head. Team I was Mashirao Ojiro, the boy with a tail, and Toru Hagakure, the invisible girl. Finally, Team J was Hanta Sero, a black-haired boy with weird elbows, and Eijiro Kirishima, the red-haired boy.

 

“Wow!” began Uraraka in excitement towards Midoriya. “We’re a team! What are the chances?!” She turned to Ren. “And it’ll be nice working with you too, Amamiya.” She smiled at him.

 

“Now, first up will be the two three-person teams,” began All Might. Suddenly, fear overtook Midoriya. “Team A will be the heroes, and Team D will be the villains! Everybody else can head to the monitoring room to watch.”

 

The two teams and All Might headed towards the building. “Bad guys, you can head in and setup,” said All Might. “In five minutes, the good guys will be let into the building. And thus, the battle will begin.”

 

“Yes sir,” said two teams in unison. Team D began to head into the building.

 

“Young Iida, Young Bakugou, and Young Sakamoto, the key to success during this exercise is to embody villainy. Think from the perspective of an evil-doer.”

 

“Understood,” said Iida.

 

“Got ya’,” said Ryuji.

 

“If things go too far, I’ll step in,” said All Might. Ryuji and Iida nodded in return. Team D then went inside the building, and then entered the building with the mock bomb.

 

“Even though this is training, it pains me to be aligned with criminal behavior,” said Iida.

 

“Tell me about it,” replied Ryuji.

 

Iida walked up to the bomb. “So this is the weapon we have to protect? Fake, of course.”

 

“Hey!” called out Bakugou. “Do you really think Deku has a quirk?”

 

“You saw how he threw that ball. Though, I think his power hurts his body. Why is it that you seem to be especially angry when it comes to Midoriya?” Bakugou didn’t answer, but Ryuji and Iida could tell that anger was coursing through him.

 

Meanwhile, Team A was talking amongst each other. “Do you think that they expect us to memorize this building’s floor plan?” asked Uraraka.

 

“It is pretty big,” said Ren.

 

“You know, All Might is just as cool in person as he is on television. I’m glad he isn’t threatening us with some kind of punishment, like Mr. Aizawa. We can rela-” Uraraka looked over to Midoriya“-Ah! You’re sweating through your costume!”

 

“Well… It’s just because we’re up against Ka-chan,” said Midoriya. “Plus, there is Iida and Sakamoto too. We should be on our guard, who knows what they’ll pull?”

 

“Oh right, Bakugou. He’s the one who is always making fun of you.”

 

“... And he’s amazing. He can be a real pain, sure, but his strength and confidence and his ambition. Not to mention his quirk. They’re all so much greater than mine.” Midoriya stood up. “But that just means I have to do better.” Midoriya put the mask of his costume on. “I refuse to lose today.” Both Ren and Uraraka smiled at him.

 

“So it’s a fated battle between rivals?”

 

“You got this,” said Ren. “And we’ll be helping you there too.”

 

“Oh, I’m not trying to get you guys wrapped up in my personal battles or anything,” said Midoriya.

 

“Are you kidding me?” said Uraraka.  “We’re all a team, right? Let’s win this!”

 

“Yeah!” added Ren.

 

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll be counting on you guys!” said Midoriya as he gave a warm smiled to the two.

 

Ren felt the strange feeling of a new bond overtake him.

 

_I am thou, thou art I…_

_Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 

_It shall become the wings of rebellion_

_That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 

_With the birth of the Sun Persona_

_I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

_Shall lead to freedom and new power…_

 

Ren then smiled back at Midoriya.

 

All Might’s voice rang through the speakers. “All right! Let’s begin your combat training! Team A and Team D, your time starts now!” Midoriya, Uraraka, and Ren quickly headed inside by escape ladder and window.

 

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room, Mina and the rest of the class watched the inside of the building from multiple camera views from a screen. “Pay attention kids,” said All Might. “Think about what you would do.”

 

Soon, Team A entered on the third floor by a window. “And just like that, we’re in,” said Uraraka.

 

“Careful,” began Midoriya. “There are a lot of blind spots.” The team began to walk around, searching for their objective.

 

Soon, Bakugou turned a corner, just as Team A was going to pass it. Bakugou lunged at Midoriya, but he managed to dodge. However, half of Midoriya’s mask was burned off. Smoke surrounded where Bakugou had hit the wall. He must have been using his quirk to give more power to his attack.

 

“Are you guys okay?” asked Midoriya.

 

“I’m fine, thanks,” said Uraraka.

 

“Yeah, me too,” added Ren.

 

Uraraka looked over to Midoriya and gasped. “Don’t worry, it’s just my mask,” said Midoriya.

 

Bakugou blew away the smoke with a wave of his hand. “What’s the matter, Deku?” asked Bakugou. “Afraid to stand up and fight me?” Ren’s hands clenched into fists. How can somebody who is training to be a hero have so much arrogance?

 

“I knew you’d come at me first. I figured you’d try to catch me by surprise.”

 

In the monitoring room, the class watched intently. “He almost got the jump on him,” said Mineta.

 

“Sneak attack, Bakugou?” began Kirishima, as he put his right fist into the palm of his left hand. “What kind of man pulls cheap crap like that?”

 

“It’s a viable strategy,” said All Might. “He’s playing the part. Acting like a true villain would.”

 

“It didn’t work though,” said Mina with excitement. “Midoriya dodged him!”

 

“Look! There he goes!” called out Kaminari.

 

Back at the building, Bakugou charged at Midoriya. “I won’t hurt you so bad that they’ll have to stop the fight! Just close!” Bakugou then swung at Midoriya for a punch. However, Midoriya moved out of the way and grabbed onto Bakugou’s body.

 

“Wow, look at those moves!” called out Uraraka.

 

“Impressive,” said Ren.

 

As his team was cheering him on, Midoriya managed to flip over and slam Bakugou down onto his back.

 

“Ka-chan,” said Midoriya. “You always use a big right hook to start a fight. I know, because I’ve watched you for years. I analyzed every amazing hero, even you. I wanted to learn everything I could about them. It was all in the notebook you burned and threw away.” Midoriya got into a fighting position as Bakugou slowly got up. ”You can call me Deku, but I’m not the same helpless, defenseless kid anymore. You hear me?! I’ve changed! From now on, Deku is the name of a hero!”

 

Ren smirked. He took solace in the fact that people are already starting to stand up to Bakugou.

 

“Deku…” began Bakugou. “You’re shaking in your boots! You’re so scared!” Bakugou would be right, Midoriya did appear to be scared, but he still held his position. “But you want to fight me anyways…” Bakugou paused.

 

Midoriya, Uraraka, and Ren waited for Bakugou to continue.

 

“That’s why I hate you!” screamed Bakugou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy. Looks like next chapter is gonna be action packed.
> 
> And, sorry about the super long paragraph about the teams. At least all the names of the students are known now.
> 
> Anyways current confidant stats are  
> Fool - Rank 1  
> Magician - Rank 1  
> Lovers - Rank 1  
> Sun - Rank 1


	8. A Clash Between Rivals!

Bakugou and Midoriya stared each other down, waiting for the other to make their move. Suddenly, Iida’s voice came in through an earbud on Bakugou’s right ear. “Bakugou, come in. Give us a status report. Where are you?!”

 

Ryuji’s voice came next. “Yeah, if you’re gonna just run off like that, we gotta know where you are.”

 

Bakugou placed a finger on the earbud. “Just shut up and defend the weapon!” called out Bakugou. “I’ve got more important things to worry about!”

 

“Are you forgetting what our mission is?” asked Iida. Bakugou turned the earbud off, stopping communication. “Hello?... He hung up on me!”

 

“For real, man?” added Ryuji.

 

“This isn’t the time for radio silence, we’re supposed to be a team!”

 

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room, the rest of the class continued to watch. “Hey, who was Bakugou talking to?” asked Kirishima. “We can’t hear anything too, is there any way we can get sound?”

 

“He has a radio in his ear, so he can talk to his teammates,” answered All Might. “I gave it to them before the match started, as well as a map of the building. Also, a roll of this.” All Might took out a roll of white tape. “This is capture-tape. By rolling it around your opponent, you will have apprehended them, and they’ll be out for the rest of the match.”

 

“So, there is a 15-minute time limit,” began Mina. “And the good guys have no idea what floor the nuclear weapon is hidden, right?”

 

“Correct!”

 

“Then the heroes are clearly at a disadvantage. A very big disadvantage.” Mina couldn’t help but be worried for Ren and his team.

 

“Real pros have to outwit villains on a daily basis. That’s life. Even when the outs aren’t in your favor, we fight! All together now!”

 

Then entire class let out a “Plus Ultra!”

 

“Look! He’s on the move,” said Yuuga.

 

As Yuuga had pointed out, Bakugou had sprung into action. He used his quirk to propel himself forwards. “Uraraka! Amamiya! Go!” yelled Midoriya. With that, Uraraka and Ren ran off, away from Bakugou and Ren. Just as that was happening, Bakugou tried to kick Midoriya, but luckily, Midoriya managed to block the kick.

 

“Ballsy move!” yelled Bakugou. “You think you can take me alone?” Instead of answering, Midoriya began to tie the capture-tape around Bakugou’s leg. Before Midoriya could finish wrapping the tape around Bakugou’s leg, Bakugou attempted to punch Midoriya. Running out of the way, Midoriya let out a smirk.

 

“Little guy is doing good!” said Sato.

 

“He’s holding his own and he hasn’t even used his quirk yet!” yelled out Sero with excitement.

 

As Bakugou got ready to lunge at Midoriya again, Midoriya ran the other way. “Hey Deku! Get back here!” yelled Bakugou.”Damn it! You were tricking me for years by acting weak! Bet you’ve been laughing behind my back! So where’s the flashy power of yours now!? Let’s see how it compares to mine! Quirk or not, you’ll never beat me Deku!”

 

* * *

  


Meanwhile, Ren and Uraraka were running through the building, hoping they’d find the nuclear weapon by chance. However, while Ren was able to keep going at a steady pace, Uraraka began to straggle behind. “Oh man, Amamiya, how can you keep going like that?” asked Uraraka.

 

Ren paused for a second. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

 

“Oh wow, really?!” Uraraka ran up to Ren. “I wish I had your endurance.”

 

Soon, the two found a stairwell. As they began to climb the staircase, Ryuji appeared at the top of the stairwell. Ryuji placed a finger on his earbud. “Yo, I found Ren and Uraraka,” said Ryuji. “No sign of Bakugou or Midoriya, though.”

 

“Very well,” said Iida. “I suppose you’re probably going to try to stop them.”

 

“That’s what I plan on doin’.”

 

Ren leaned in close to Uraraka. “I’ll handle Ryuji. You just go and find the bomb,” said Ren in a soft tone.

 

Uraraka nodded with determination. “Mhm! I got you,” said Uraraka.

 

“Alright!” shouted Ryuji. “I hope you’re ready!” Ryuji’s fists became surrounded by electricity. He jumps off the stairwell and aimed to punch Ren as he fell. Ren got into a position to block the attack. When Ryuji hid Ren, Ren was knocked back. “I knew you wouldn't be easy, Ren.”

 

“The same goes for you,” responded Ren. While Ren had Ryuji’s attention, Uraraka ran up the stairwell and began her search for the bomb.

 

“You know, I jus’ thought of something. We’re kinda like rivals now.”

 

“I suppose.”

 

“I mean, we’re friendly ones, of course. So don’t hold anything back on me, okay?” Ryuji had a wide grin on his face.

 

Ren felt a sensation course through his body.

 

_I am thou, thou art I…_

_Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 

_It shall become the wings of rebellion_

_That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 

_With the birth of the Chariot Persona_

_I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

_Shall lead to freedom and new power._

 

“I wouldn’t plan on it,” said Ren. Ren then created curse energy to make a blade. He slashed at Ryuji, who jumped back. Looking his left, Ryuji saw there was piping on the wall. Sprinting over to the wall, and dodging another slash from Ren, Ryuji grabbed onto one of the pipes. Pulling, Ryuji broke a section of the pipe off.

 

“Now we’re on equal footing,” said Ryuji. Soon, a mist began to envelope where Ren and Ryuji were. The mist came from the pipes on the wall, as there was a section missing now. “This just got interesting, Ren.”

 

The two were more careful now. One wrong move now could leave them on the losing side. As there was a mist, the two had to figure out where the other was.

 

“What’s going in there?” asked a worried Mina.

 

“Yeah, I can’t see anything with all that fog in there,” said Kirishima.

 

“They didn’t look like they were fighting much, though,” said Yaoyorozu.

 

“Aren’t they like friends or something?” said Mineta.

 

Ren began to focus. The world began to darken around him. Ren had activated his third eye. Through the mist, Ryuji glowed blue. Using this to his advantage, Ren leaped into action. Ren charged towards Ryuji, creating a tendril to grab onto Ryuji’s pipe.

 

Noticing this, Ryuji sent electricity through his pipe, causing the tendril to dissipate. However, Ren was only using this as a distraction, as once the tendril dissipated, Ren hit Ryuji with a left jab to the face. In retaliation, Ryuji swung his pipe right into Ren’s right side. The two jumped back. Ryuji electrified his pipe again. Ren created a blade with his curse energy. They both grinned as they lunged towards each other.

 

* * *

  


Soon, Uraraka found the room with the bomb, and Iida too. She hid behind a corner, listening to see if Iida was going to give out any important information. “Bakugou definitely has a villainous side,” began Iida. “And that’s exactly what we need to succeed in this mission… I need to temporarily devote myself to criminal intent. I won’t fail this trial and bring shame to the Iida family name. That means… I must now embrace evil, to become a hero.” There was a tone of intensity to Iida’s voice.  “Behold! I am the personification of villainy!” Iida’s voice changed to that of a cartoonish, over-the-top villain. “Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

 

Uraraka couldn’t help but laugh. “He’s so serious,” she said quietly. However, Iida did hear Uraraka.

 

“Hmm? Uraraka, is that you?” Uraraka, knowing she was caught, sheepishly walked out from behind the corner. “I knew you would come here alone!” Iida pointed at Uraraka. “The instant that Bakugou ran off by himself and engaged with Midoriya! Your quirk allows you to float anything that you touch. But I’ve prepared for that, by hiding every object in this room so you have nothing to use against me, do-gooder!” Like Iida said, there was nothing in the room except for the bomb, Uraraka, and himself. “My dastardly trick have rendered you helpless! You've blundered hero! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

 

“He really is… playing the part.” Uraraka put a finger on her earbud. “Um... Deku?”

 

* * *

  


Midoriya had been hiding behind a corner when Uraraka contacted him. He placed a finger onto his earbud. “I’m here,” said Midoriya. “How’s it going?”

 

“Amamiya is fighting Sakamoto right now… and Iida knows that I’m at the bomb, sorry. But right now, he’s monologuing.”

 

“Where are you?”

 

“Near the middle of the fifth floor.”

 

“That’s right above me. We probably don’t have much time left now. We have to finish this soon, or they win.” Midoriya’s hand clenched into a fist. Midoriya stood up, ready to turn the corner and capture Bakugou. Then he heard a buzzing sound behind him. Midoriya turned around to see Bakugou.

 

Bakugou lifted up his right hand. “I’m all loaded up,” said Bakugou.

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“Why aren’t you using your fancy quirk? Don’t tell me you’re underestimating me, Deku. Get over here and show me what you’re really made of.” Midoriya stared at Bakugou, ready for Bakugou’s next move.

 

“Ka-chan, I’m not scared of you anymore!”

 

Bakugou’s face showed anger before evolving into a smirk. “Since you’re such a stalker, by now you probably know how my quirk explosion works.” Bakugou pointed at Midoriya with his right hand. “I secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from my hands and make it blow up. Imagine what I could do if I had a lot of it.” Bakugou placed his other hand on a handle on his right gauntlet and pulled back, revealing something similar to a grenade pin. “That’s right, these gauntlets aren’t just for show. They’ve been storing up my sweat inside for one monster blow.” Bakugou grabbed onto the pin.

 

All Might, who had been watching, yells into a mic. “Young Bakugou! Don’t do it! You’ll kill him!”

 

“He’ll be fine as long as he dodges!” yells Bakugou in response as he pulled the pin. Once the pin was removed, a massive explosion filled the hallway. The explosion caused shaking throughout the area, especially in the building.

 

“What the eff!?” called our Ryuji.

 

“Could it be?” asked Ren to himself.

 

“Woah!” called out Kirishima. “This is nuts!

 

“Come in!” yelled All Might. “Come in Midoriya!” As the smoke faded from the explosion, it became visible that Bakugou had blown a large hole in the wall, opening the building up to the outside world.

 

Midoriya laid on the floor, breathing heavily. “Is that… even allowed?” asked Midoriya. His mask was entirely gone, and his right sleeve was burned off.

 

Bakugou let out a chuckle as he walked towards Midoriya. “These are awesome,” said Bakugou. “The more nitro-sweat that’s stored in these gauntlets, the stronger the explosion is!” His other gauntlet let out the same buzzing sound, signifying that it was ready. “Go ahead, use your stupid quirk on me, Deku. Even if you give me everything you’ve got, you’ll never beat me.” Bakugou seemed to be enjoying this too much.

 

Meanwhile, Iida had begun to try to contact Bakugou. “Bakugou, answer me,” began Iida. “What is going on down there!”

 

“Yeah, what the eff man!” chimed in Ryuji.

 

“Did you cause that blast?! Give me status update now!”

 

While Iida was distracted, Uraraka took that chance to try and touch the bomb. However, Iida was able to notice her and began to run towards her. “Not so fast, hero!” Uraraka pressed her fingers together, and then jumped over Iida and float towards the bomb. “Since when could she make herself float?!”

 

Pressing her fingers together again, she yelled, “Release!” As she did that, she began to float downwards.

 

“Not so fast!” Engines came out of Iida’s calves and he ran at an intense speed towards the bomb and moved it away from where Uraraka was going to land. Unprepared for landing, Uraraka tumbled over when she landed. “Admirable attempt, but your quirk is no threat if you can’t touch anything! I can easily keep this weapon out of your reach until time runs out!”

 

Meanwhile, Bakugou stared down Midoriya. “What’s the matter? You look scared,” said Bakugou with confidence. “You dodged the attack so you can still fight, can’t you? Come and get me!”

 

Midoriya pressed his finger on the earbud once more. “What’s the situation guys?” asked Midoriya.

 

“I’m keeping Ryuji occupied,” said Ren, who had gone back to dueling with Ryuji

 

“Not good for me,” said Uraraka.

 

“Are you ignoring me again?!” began Bakugou. Anger was filling Bakugou. “I’ll get your attention!”

 

“Sir, isn’t this getting out of hand?” asked Kirishima.

 

“Yeah, Bakugou is acting really crazy,” said Mina.

 

Kirishima nodded. “He’s gonna kill him if we keep letting him go like this.”

 

“Not so...” began All Might. He put the mic up to his mouth once more. “Bakugou! Use that stored power of yours once more, and I’ll stop this fight. Your team will lose.”

 

“Huh!” yelled Bakugou.

 

“To employ such a strong attack indoor is destroying the stronghold you should be protecting. That’s a poor strategy, whether you’re a hero or a villain. The penalty will be a massive loss of points.” Bakugou let out a scream of anger.

 

Midoriya, who was still on the radio’s coms spoke up again. “Uraraka, the pillar by the window. Get there now!”

 

Bakugou lunged towards Midoriya. “Fine! We’ll just fight head to head!” yelled Bakugou. Midoriya, knowing he can’t dodge Bakugou’s attack when to counterattack. However, as Midoriya went to punch, Bakugou used his quirk to go up and over Midoriya. Bakugou then sent an explosion towards Midoriya’s back, causing Midoriya to let out a yelp of pain.

 

“Oh my gosh,” said Mina.

 

“What was that move?” asked Kirishima.

 

“He doesn’t come off as a guy with a strategy,” began Todoroki. There was an air of thoughtfulness around his voice. “But he’s actually quite intelligent…”

 

Kirishima and Mina turned around to look at Todoroki. “What are you talking about?” asked Kirishima.

 

“He changed his trajectory mid-air, by using a blast that doubled as a smokescreen. Very clever…”

 

“An attack like that requires an extreme amount of precision,” said Yaoyorozu. “He had to calculate the physics and demonstrate control over his quirk.”

 

“Ugh, Bakugou is uber-talented,” said Kaminari.”I hate it...”

 

“Here it comes, nerd!” yelled Bakugou. Midoriya began to turn around to look at Bakugou. What he saw was Bakugou charging at him. “That famous right hook you were talking about!”  Midoriya let out a cry of pain when he was hit again. Then, Bakugou grabbed onto Midoriya’s arm. “Deku!” Bakugou used his quirk to propel himself in front of Midoriya, rather than behind position he was in. “Don’t you ever forget who you are!” Bakugou slammed Midoriya onto the ground. “You’re a weakling!”

 

“This is hard to watch,” began Mina. “All he has to do is wrap tape around him, not kill him!” Mina knew that Bakugou was bad enough to have a palace, but seeing his actions outside of the world was too much.

 

“Bakugou is certainly acting like a villain,” said Tokoyami.

 

“I thought Midoriya was pretty amazing at the start,” said Kaminari. “But he’s completely outmatched by Bakugou in terms of combat power. Not to mention, Bakugou seems like a natural at all this stuff.”

 

All Might held tightly onto the mic, seemingly conflicted.

 

With no other option, Midoriya began to run away. “He’s running away,” said Mina.

 

“Not very manly, but he doesn’t have much of a choice,” said Kirishima. “He’s outgunned. Unless he’s got some sort of plan.”

 

Midoriya had run into a dead end. “Why won’t you use your damn quirk again?” asked Bakugou as he approached Midoriya. “Still think you can stop me without it!?”

 

Midoriya lowered his head. “That’s not it,” said Midoriya.

 

“You’ve been hiding your true power for years! What’s the deal, Deku!? Did you think you were better than me this entire time?!”

 

“That’s what you think… You idiot! You’ve always been stronger, Ka-chan! I know that you’re better than me! Can’t you see… That’s why I want to beat you!” Midoriya’s eyes had begun to tear up. “Because you’re amazing!”

 

“You’re even more of an idea than I realized. Come at me!”

 

Both and Midoriya and Bakugou charged at each other. Midoriya began to send his quirk through his arm.

  


“They’re gonna kill each other!” yelled Kirishima.

 

“Both of you stop!” yelled All Might into the mic, but it was too late.

 

“Uraraka, now!” yelled Midoriya, using his team’s radio.

 

“Right!” yelled Uraraka, as she grabbed onto a pillar.

 

“Hold on, Ryuji. Something's about to happen,” said Ren, stopping his clash with Ryuji.

 

“What the?” asked Ryuji.

 

As Bakugou sent an explosion towards Midoriya’s face, Midoriya punched the air upwards with an extreme force. The force created a gust of wind with so much power, that all of the building that was in the way was blow away, creating multiple holes in the floors and ceilings up to the roof. “Holy shit!” yelled Ryuji. At the same time, Uraraka used her quirk to make parts of the building weightless. The pillar that Uraraka had grabbed on to had detached from the rest of the building.

 

“This is it!” called out Uraraka. “Sorry, Iida! Improvised Special Move: Bat Comet Home Run!” Uraraka swung the pillar like a bat, hitting multiple pieces of debris towards Iida.

 

“In the name of villainy, I demand that you stop this!” yelled Iida as he braced for impact. While Iida was distracted, Uraraka managed to make herself float, and jump over the hole in the floor and to the bomb.

 

“Release!” yelled Uraraka as she put her fingers together. She fell and grabbed onto the bomb with a sigh of relief. “I’ve got it!”

 

“No! The weapon!”

 

Bakugou stared at Midoriya. “This was your big plan,” began Bakugou. “Your plan from the very beginning wasn’t it! You were playing this entire time, you bastard!”

 

“I wasn’t… going to use it,” said Midoriya. The dust settled from the blow, and Bakugou could clearly see that the arm Midoriya had used to punch has been severely damaged. “You see… because I can’t control it.” Midoriya sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. “My body just can’t handle the backlash of my power yet. Mr. Aizawa said I’d be useless. But this was all that I could think off.” Bakugou then saw Midoriya’s other arm, that had been burned by Bakugou’s explosion. “This is the only way, I had any chance of winning.”

 

The time ran out, but nobody said anything. All Might and the rest of the class were left in shock after what happened. Finally, All Might spoke into the mic. “You did it…” Midoriya couldn’t handle the pain anymore and fell over, unconscious. “The hero team wins.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow! I almost didn't make it! Luckily, I did, and I'm pretty proud of this chapter too.
> 
> Though, sorry that this is a rather BNHA character-centric chapter. As more events happen, you guys will see how Ren, Ryuji, and even Morgana handle it.
> 
> Anyways, Ren's confidant levels are:  
> Fool - Rank 1  
> Magician - Rank 1  
> Lovers - Rank 1  
> Chariot - Rank 1  
> Sun - Rank 1


	9. Conclusion To The Battle Trials!

“What a weird way for this to end,” said Kaminari. He and the rest of the class stood in the monitoring room. “The losers are practically untouched, and two of the winners are on the ground.”

 

“How does the old saying go?” began Tokoyami. “They may have won the battle but lost the war.”

 

“This class is intense,” said Tsuyu.

 

However, Bakugou was filled with an intense anger. “Deku!” yelled Bakugou. “You can’t just beat me like that!” His voice echoed through the building.

 

“The hell?” said Ryuji.

 

“You hear me?! Once the sports festival comes around, you’re dead!”

 

“Sports festival?” asked Ren. Ryuji shrugged in response.

 

All Might had entered the building. “Young Bakugou,” began All Might. “Calm down, the battle is over.” Two robots entered the building, holding a gurney. The robots went up to Midoriya and placed him on the gurney. “Whether you win or lose, you can always take something away from experiences like this, as long as you’re open to learning. Now, let’s head back and look at the results.”

 

Soon, Team D and most of Team A returned to the monitoring room with All Might. “Well, despite the results,” began All Might. “The MVP of this exercise is Young Iida.” A lot of the class was surprised, including Iida.

 

“Shouldn’t it be one of the heroes?” asked Tsuyu. “They were the winners, after all.”

 

“Valid question. Why didn’t I choose one of them? Who has a guess?”

 

“Sir,” said Yaoyorozu as she raised her hand. “I can tell you why. Iida embraced this challenge. He was the only one who adapted to his assigned role. Bakugou’s judgment was clouded by a personal grudge against Midoriya. As you pointed out earlier, launching a large scale attack indoors was a foolish move. It could have been disastrous. Similarly, Midoriya’s plan was also poorly thought out, considering how much damage he received. He rendered himself helpless. As for Uraraka, she let her guard down mid-battle, and her final attack was far too reckless, given the hypothetical stakes. If she treated the fake weapon as if it were real, she would have never risked using such an imprecise move. Sakamoto and Amamiya treated this a sparing match, rather than a match between heroes. As such, they did not fill the roles of hero and villain. Iida was fully prepared for his opponent's arrival. He had a strategy and never lost sight of his mission, even if he was foiled in the end. Technically the hero team won, but the took advantage of the fact that this was training. They didn’t respect the spirit of the exercise.”

 

“Yes, well, you overlooked a few thing.” All Might took a second to compose himself. “Young Iida could have relaxed a bit during the exercise, but otherwise you nailed it.” All Might gave Yaoyorozu a thumbs up.

 

“One should always start with the basics to devote themselves wholeheartedly to learning. That’s only real way to devote themselves to become a top hero.”

 

“Now then, time to blow this joint. Let’s move on to the next match. Think about everything we saw and discussed as you try the training out for yourselves.”

 

Most of the class let out a “Yes Sir.”

 

“Now time for match two!” All Might walked out to where he draws the teams. He took two slips out. “Team B will the heroes, and Team I will be the villains.” Todoroki, Shoji, Ojiro, and Hagakure headed out of the monitoring room and to the building where they will carry out their exercise. Ojiro and Hagakure headed inside to prep for being villains, while Todoroki and Shoji stayed outside.

 

Soon, the exercise began. Hagakure, who was only wearing gloves and shoes, took off her clothes. Shoji stood at the entrance. His arms had morphed into some sort of sonar device. “One is in the hall of the north side of the fourth floor,” said Shoji. “I think the other is on the same level somewhere on the same floor. Both are barefoot. I bet the invisible one plans to sneak up on us and surprise us.”

 

“For your own safety, go outside,” said Todoroki. “I’m sure our opponents intend to fight a defensive battle.” Todoroki lifted his right hand, frost coming off of it. He placed his hand on the wall of the building. “But we have already won.” The wall began to freeze over. The ice expanded rapidly across the building. Shoji exited the building so he wouldn’t be stuck in the crossfire. Very quickly, the entire building froze over. Both Ojiro and Hagakure were stuck to where they stood.

 

Soon, Todoroki walked into the room Ojiro was in, which also contained the mock bomb. Ojiro got in a fighting position. “Pry yourself off if you want.” began Todoroki. “But it might be hard to fight me when you have no skin on the bottom of your feet.” Todoroki walked past Ojiro without hesitation.

 

The cold temperatures from Todoroki’s ice was so intense, the people in the monitoring room felt it. “He incapacitated them without compromising the weapon or his teammate.Take close note of his technique students,” said All Might through the stutters from his shivering.

 

“Woah, he’s so strong,” said Kirishima in amusement.

 

Todoroki placed his left hand on the mock bomb. “The hero team wins!” yelled All Might through his mic. Suddenly, the ice in the building began to quickly thaw.

 

“Heat too?!” asked Ojiro in surprise.

 

“It’s not your fault,” began Todoroki. “We’re just playing on different levels.”

 

“Holy crap!” said Sato.

 

“That guy is kinda intimidating,” said Kaminari.

 

“He got in on a recommendation, so he must be good,” said Tsuyu.

 

“Moving on!” called out All Might. “Time for a review of the second match! And after that, we’ll jet on to the next match!”

 

Most of the class let out a “Yes sir!” again.

 

The third match was Team J versus Team H. The fourth match was Team C versus Team G. The fifth match was Team F versus Team E.

 

Once all the matches were completed, all of the class, except for Midoriya, stood at the exit. “That’s a wrap, everybody!” said All Might with enthusiasm. ”Super work, you all stepped up to the plate! And we didn’t have any major injuries, except for Young Midoriya. You should be proud! Excellent first day of training all around!”

 

“It’s nice to hear some encouraging comments after our homeroom class,” said Tsuyu. “Mr. Aizawa is kinda a buzzkill.”

 

“I’m glad to bring some positivity to the class! That’s all for now, folks! I should probably go and check on Young Midoriya’s progress. Now, I must exit as a pro! Goodbye, class!” All Might ran off at an intense speed.

 

“Okay, you guys! That is a hero!” said Kaminari.

 

“I’ll never be able to run that fast,” said Ojiro.

 

“Super awesome!’ said Mineta.

 

* * *

  


The class had gone into their room, to finish the rest of their classes as well as waiting for Midoriya to return from the nurse’s office. Ren, Ryuji, and Mina sat with each other. “So, Bakugou said something about a sports festival,” began Ryuji. “Do you have any idea on what one he’s talking about?”

 

“You guys don’t know what the UA Sports Festival is?” asked a surprised Mina.

 

“Well, considering our circumstances it shouldn’t be surprising,” said Ren.

 

“Well, it’s _the_ sports event. Everybody watches it.”

 

“So, they’re kinda like the Olympics?” asked Ryuji.

 

“Kinda. But it happens every year, and people can use their quirks. It’s super cool! And we’re gonna compete in ’em too, this year!”

 

“Interesting… So when does it happen?” asked Ren.

 

“Early May. I think it’s the sixth.”

 

“Well, Bakugou said that Midoriya is dead once the sports festival comes around.”

 

Morgana popped out of Ren’s bag. “So we have our due date,” exclaimed Morgana.

 

“Shut it, Morgana,” said Ryuji in a hushed tone.

 

_Mission Start!_

 

Suddenly, the door opened. “Hey guys, look! It’s Midoriya!” called out Kirishima. As Kirishima said, Midoriya was in the doorway. He had his arm in a sling. “Good to see you back, super!” Some of the students, including Ren, Ryuji, and Mina went up to Midoriya. “I don’t know what you were saying during that match, but you were all fired up, huh?”

 

“I can’t believe you held your own against Bakugou,” said Sero. “He’s super strong.”

 

“You did a great job dodging!” exclaimed Mina.

 

“Yeah, you did good kid,” said Ryuji.

 

“You really turned it up during your round, so none of us held back during ours,” said Sato.

 

“You were far from elegant, but I suppose-” said Aoyama.

 

“Your dodging was like, ‘whew’!” said Mina, cutting Aoyama off.

 

“Hey, I’m Eijiro Kirishima. We’ve been going over training results while you were in recovery,” said Kirishima.

 

“Hi, I’m Hanta Sero,” said Sero.

 

“More importantly, I’m Yuuga Aoyama,” said Aoyama.

 

“I’m Mina Ashido, and I just gotta say you’re punching was awesome!” exclaimed Mina.

 

Tsuyu came out from behind Mina. “I’m Tsuyu Asui, but please, call me Tsu,” said Tsuyu.

 

“I’m Ryuji Sakamoto, and the quiet guy next to me is Ren Amamiya,” said Ryuji. Ren waved. “But you prolly already know us from the games.”

 

“Hey, I’m Sato!” said Sato.

 

“Woah, hey guys,” said Midoriya, who was panicking a little bit.

 

“My name is Mineta!” said Mineta as he jumped up.

 

“Where the heck did you pop out of?” said Kirishima to Mineta.

 

“Tokoyami!” yelled out Iida as he ran over to Tokoyami. The group around Midoriya turned to see what was going on. They saw Tokoyami sitting on a desk, talking to Ojiro and Jiro. Iida had run up to the three. “Stop using that desk as a chair! Get off of it this instance!”

 

“Dude, you need to chill,” said Jiro.

 

“You’re carrying a lot of tension,” said Ojiro.

 

“No one understands,” said Iida. “I cannot condone actions that disrespect the desks! Not when our great upperclassmen have used them!”

 

“You are very noisy,” said Tokoyami.

 

Kaminari and Uraraka walked through another door to the classroom, holding books. “So, you wanna go grab a bite to eat sometime?” asked Kaminari.”What kind of stuff you like?”

 

“Uhh… Anything sweet,” said Uraraka. She turned and noticed Midoriya. “Hey Deku, why didn’t the nurse heal your injuries.” Uraraka ran over to Midoriya.

 

“Oh, well it has to do with how much stamina I have,” explained Midoriya. Midoriya looked over and saw that Bakugou’s desk was empty. “Um, Uraraka, where’s Ka-chan?”

 

“We tried to stop him from leaving, but he wouldn’t listen. You just missed him.”

 

Without another word, Midoriya ran out of the classroom. Nobody followed.

 

Soon, people saw Midoriya out of the window to the classroom. They saw him talking to Bakugou. It seemed like Bakugou was yelling at Midoriya. Soon, Bakugou turned around and walked off. But suddenly, All Might came running out towards Bakugou. The two then began to talk about something.

 

“I wonder what that was all about,” said Mina, who was looking out the windows.

 

“The fated battle between rivals,” said Uraraka.

 

“Whatever Midoriya was saying, I looked like Bakugou really wanted to punch him,” said Tsuyu.

 

Uraraka looked down at her friend, with concern on her face. “Childhood friends turned enemies…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, the team will finally head back into Bakugou's palace.


	10. The Exploding Hallway

Soon, Ren, Ryuji, and Mina left the school. Morgana peeked his head out of Ren’s bag. “You guys ready for this?” asked Morgana.

 

“Hell yeah!” exclaimed Ryuji. He grinned at the team. “This’ll be our first mission in a long while, so it’ll be great to get back into the swing of things.”

 

“I’m ready too!” said Mina with a smile. “... Though, I still don’t get what we have to do.”

 

“Trust me, you’ll figure out eventually.” Ryuji.

 

“And we’ll help you with any questions you have,” added Ren. He looked around, seeing that nobody was around. “Alright, let’s go.” Ren took out his phone, opened up the Metanav, and entered Bakugou’s palace.

 

The world once again shifted. UA ceased to be a school and transformed into a fortress. The sky darkened. Morgana had transformed into his bipedal form, and the uniforms of Ren, Ryuji, and Mina had shifted to their phantom thief outfits. Looking around, Ren saw that the wall of fire was gone once again. “Looks like we don’t have to use the catapult again,” said Ryuji.

 

“Thank god,” began Mina. “I don’t know if I could take another go at that.”

 

“We still have a long way to walk,” said Ren. “That fortress is pretty far away.”

 

Ryuji walked up to Morgana with a smirk on his face. “Mona, do the thing. “

 

“What thing?” asked Morgana in an annoyed tone. “You gotta be more specific not just say ‘thing’!”

 

“You know, the transforming thing!” retorted Ryuji.

 

“Transforming thing?” asked Mina. Morgana answered with a grunt as he jumped into the air. As Morgana reached the peak of his jump, he transformed into a van. “Wh-What?!”

 

“Apparently cats transforming into vans is common in the public’s cognition,” said Ren as he patted Mina on the back. Ren got into the driver's seat of the Morgana Van, followed by Ryuji getting into the seat next to Ren. Reluctantly, Mina got into the backseat.

 

“Alright, let’s get going,” said Morgana. His voice seems to be coming from what would be a radio.

 

“He can talk while he’s a van, too?!” exclaimed Mina with surprise.

 

“Yup,” answered Ryuji. “I’ve learned not to question this kind of stuff.” Ren started up the van and began to drive towards the fortress.

 

Soon enough, they arrived. Ren, Ryuji, and Mina got out the van, and Morgana transformed back into his bipedal form. Ren activated his third eye and scanned the area. “Nobody is around,” said Ren.

 

“Then we should probably head deeper,” said Ryuji.

 

“Sounds like a plan,” began Morgana. “But we should remember to be careful.”

 

“Yeah, Bakugou’s shadow really gave you guys a run for your money,” said Mina.

 

“We’ll make sure to steal that bastard’s heart,” said Ryuji. Nodding in agreement, the team found a pathway, leading deeper into the palace.

 

Eventually, they found themselves in a dimly lit corridor. Stepping forward, Ren felt his foot go into a shallow pool. Using his third eye, Ren saw the entire corridor was covered with a liquid, about an inch deep. “The hell?” said Ryuji. Ren dipped his fingers into the liquid and smelled it.

 

“Doesn’t smell like water,” said Ren.

 

“Then what is it?” asked Mina.

 

“Well, he said that sweat is like nitroglycerin.” Ren slashed a bit of the liquid outside of the corridor to make a puddle. “Raccoon, can you use Lozen to like that puddle up?”

 

“Sure thing, Joker.” Mina’s mask disappeared as Lozen did appear. She used Agi on the puddle. As expected, the puddle became engulfed in flames, creating a mini-explosion. Lozen then disappeared, giving Mina her mask back.

 

“Well damn,” said Ryuji.

 

“Let’s hope something doesn’t ignite the hallway while we’re walking through it,” said Mina, as she began to walk through the corridor.

 

“Hey, wait up!” called out Ryuji as he followed. Ren and Morgana followed after Ryuji.

 

Eventually, they found a cross-section. They could either go left or right. “Which way?” asked Morgana.

 

“Let’s split up,” said Ren. “Morgana and I to the left, and you two to the right.”

 

“Sounds good,” said Ryuji.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine with that,” said Mina.

 

“Let’s get going, Joker,” said Morgana. The team then split up and headed down the two pathways. “Hey, Joker?” began Morgana.

 

“You need something?” replied Ren.

 

“I was just wondering about something. Just, why did the Metaverse come back?”

 

“I was wondering the same thing.”

 

“How long has the Metaverse had time to develop and fester? I don’t even want to know what the deepest parts of Mementos looks like.” Ren shuttered at the thought.

 

Soon, Ren and Morgana reached the end of the pathway, A dead end. Unlike most of the path, it was well lit. It had a mural, of a young boy. He stood in the middle of a group of young children, which appeared to be praising the boy. A very tiny explosion could be seen coming from one of his hands. Underneath the mural, there was an inscription that read: “Those under you will always fawn over your powers. It’s best if you never let those peasants down.”

 

“You think that kid is Bakugou?” asked Morgana.

 

“Looks like it,” replied Ren. “He thinks he’s above everybody.”

 

“Even as a child, he had his arrogance.”

 

Ren then activated his third eye. He saw that under the mural, and in the liquid, was a key. Reaching down, Ren picked up the key. “Let’s head back,” said Ren.

 

“Yeah, nothing more to do here,” added Morgana. The two began to head back to where the two paths met.

 

Meanwhile, Ryuji and Mina talked as they walked down their pathway. “So, what was your first palace like back in your old world?” asked Mina.

 

“It belonged to this asshole named Kamoshida,” answered Ryuji.

 

“Kamoshida? I think I heard that name before.” Mina tried to think back.

 

“Probably overheard the news. The damn bastard was murdered.”

 

“Oh yeah,” said Mina, finally remembering. “Was he really that bad to have him be killed?”

 

“Hell no! The dude was an asshole and a horrible person, but killin’ him would have just left a bad taste in my mouth. You get me?”

 

“Yeah, but that makes me wonder, who did kill him?”

 

“I dunno. The thing I read didn’t say they had found the killer.”

 

“So, what did Kamoshida even do?”

 

“He was the volleyball coach, and at one point the track team’s coach back at my first high school. What he did was physically abuse kids. He even… He even broke my leg.” Mina was now fully aware of the fact that Ryuji walked with a slight limp. “Even worse, he was sexually harassing girls at the school. One of them even tried to kill herself.”

 

“That’s terrible…”

 

“Yeah… But, I look back at those times and that bastard to remind myself that I’m helping real people in need when I do this kind of stuff.”

 

“That’s a nice way of looking at it.” Mina smiled softly.

 

Eventually, they got to the end of the pathway. Like the other, this pathway was also a dead end and had a well-lit mural. However, the mural was different in this pathway. It had a young boy with blonde hair who appears to have fallen over in some shallow water. There was another kid, with green hair, who appears to be reaching to help the other boy up. Under the mural, there was an inscription that read: “Those without powers are weaklings. You should never accept help from a weakling; they’ll always get it wrong.”

 

“What a prick,” said Ryuji.

 

“I can’t believe somebody who wants to be a hero can think like that,” said Mina. Ryuji, who was tapping his foot on the ground repeatedly, felt something touch his shoe.

 

“Huh? What’s this?” asked Ryuji as he reached down to pick up whatever touched him. Picking it up, Ryuji saw that it was a key. “That’s weird.”

 

“A key, huh? Maybe we should keep it just in case,” said Mina.

 

“That sounds like a good idea.” Ryuji shoved the key into his pocket. “Now. c’mon. Let’s see if Ren and Morgana had any luck.” Mina nodded and began to walk back with Ryuji.

 

Soon, the four met back up. They told each other about the murals and the keys. “Man, what an asshole,” said Ryuji.

 

“He thinks he’s so high and mighty,” said Morgana.

 

“We’re just gonna have to knock him down a peg,” said Mina.

 

“So, what now?” asked Ryuji. Without answering, Ren started his third eye, hoping to find some secret keyholes. While he didn’t find keyholes, he did see that a section of the wall glowed blue.

 

“The wall here is weak,” said Ren with a smirk. The other turned to look at the wall.

 

“So how do we break it?” asked Mina. Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana looked at Mina. “... What?”

 

The four headed back to the beginning of the corridor. They made sure to step out of the liquid. Mina summoned Lozen. “You guys might wanna step back,” said Mina. “Agi!” Lozen used Agi on the liquid, igniting it. As the flames spread down the corridor, the grew. The barrels exploded once they were hit by the fire, causing it to grow even more. After some time, the flames finally died down.

 

“I think the coast is clear,” said Morgana. “Let’s head out.” The four began to head down the corridor again, which was now devoid of the liquid. Once they reach where the two paths split off, they saw a big hole blown into the wall.

 

“Oh damn,” said Ryuji.

 

“I knew it would work,” said Ren. Through the hole, there was a large room. Walking through the hole, a shadow appeared in front of them.

 

“Halt!” yelled the shadow. “You’re the thieves destroying Lord Bakugou’s fortress, aren’t you?”

 

“Oh wow, you couldn’t tell?” said Mina jokingly.

 

“Maybe Lord Bakugou should hire some better guards,” said Morgana.

 

“Yeah! Getting here was a cakewalk!” exclaimed Ryuji.

 

“Cease your useless talking!” yelled the shadow. “I’ll make sure to make your deaths quick.” The shadow began to transform. It shifted into a red colored demon with black wings hands and head.

 

“Is that best you can do?” asked Ryuji. He looked over at Ren. “Work your magic.”

 

Ren stepped forward. He took out his pistol and aimed it right at the shadow. He fired a bullet at the shadow. The bullet clipped the shadow’s right wing, causing it to fall over. “Join my cause,” said Ren.

 

“What’s he doing?” asked Mina.

 

“Let Ren do this,” said Ryuji.

 

“Why would I do that? You’re an enemy of Lord Bakugou,” said the shadow.

 

“Well to start, you’re beaten.”

 

“Well, that’s because you exploited my weakness!”

 

“Don’t the greatest warriors use their enemies weakness against them? It looks like your ruler expects to win using brute force. That can only get you so far.” Trn was smirking.

 

The shadow grunted. “I suppose you’re right.” Suddenly, something clicked in the shadow’s mind. “Oh, I get it now! I don’t belong to Bakugou. I am thou, thou art I. I belong to the sea of human unconsciousness, and I’ll help you as long as I don’t have to do too much work.” The shadow then transformed into a mask that looked the same as Ren’s mask. The mask flew right into Ren.

 

“Woah, what happen?” asked Mina.

 

“Joker got a new persona,” answered Morgana.

 

“He can have more than one?”

 

“Yeah, he’s kind of like a chosen one or some bullshit like that,” began Ryuji. “So he can do a bunch of stuff we can.”

 

“That’s pretty cool. Anyways, we should keep going.”

 

“Wait,” said Morgana. He scurried over to one of the doors into the room. “I found a safe room.”

 

“Oh sweet,” said Ryuji as he walked over to Morgana. Morgana and Ryuji entered the safe room, followed by Ren and Mina.

 

“Ah finally,” sighed Ryuji. He sat down at one of the chairs

 

“So, is a safe room just where we have a break?” asked Mina.

 

“That’s part of it,” said Morgana. “We also talk about our status, and how far we into the palace.”

 

“Yeah, that’s about right,” said Ryuji.

 

“Speaking of that,” began Ren. “How far do you think we’re in, Mona?”

 

“Not very,” said Morgana. “I can’t sense the treasure at all.”

 

“But man, that explosion was effing gigantic,” said Ryuji. “We never did anything like that until after we got the treasure.”

 

“Until after you go the treasure?” said Mina.

 

“Treasures keep the palaces stable. If we take the treasure, the palace will fall apart,” said Morgana.

 

“Like one time we were on a ship, and it started to sink,” said Ryuji. “Now that was cool… except for when everybody beat me up because they thought I died.”

 

“They thought you died?” said Mina.

 

“It’s a long story.”

 

“Oh…”

 

Ren chimed in. “So, are we good enough to continue, or should we head back?”

 

“I’m good,” said Ryuji.

 

“I’m not feeling tired at all,” said Mina.

 

“My energy isn’t spent,” said Morgana.

 

“Alright, let’s get going,” said Re as he turned around and walked out of the safe room. The other three soon followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to spend the time in Bakugou's palace. The next chapter will show what Bakugou really thinks of Izuku. And trust me, I didn't bring up the keys for nothing.


	11. Be Careful On That Bridge!

The group walked through Bakugou’s palace, fighting shadows as they found them.

 

“So what do you guys think the keys are for?” asked Mina

 

“Well, besides the obvious answer, I dunno,” said Ryuji. “But I sure as hell know it ain’t gonna be good.”

 

“Yeah, when palaces had a locked room it usually showed us one of their disturbed thoughts,” added Ren.

 

“Well, that stinks… But... the fact that you can use more than one persona is super cool,” said Mina. Her face shifted to a smile.

 

“Haha, thanks…” Ren awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke.

 

“C’mon Joker! You don’t gotta be so humble,” exclaimed Ryuji. “You’re basically the stronger one us.” Ryuji turned to Mina, grinning. “You should see what this guy can do later. Freaking awesome.”

 

“I have to admit, Joker’s abilities are impressive,” said Morgana.

 

“Jeez guys, I didn’t think you were gonna praise me,” said Ren. He is embarrassed, to say the least.

 

“But it’s true, man!” yelled Ryuji. Just as he spoke this, the group had entered what appeared to be an armoury. The room was filled with weapons and armour. “Holy shit…”

 

“He must love hurting people,” said Mina, inspecting one of the weapons.

 

Ren had activated his third eye, scanning the room for anything important. He saw that was lodged between two armour sets on one of the shelves. “What’s this?” asked Ren as he walked up to the shelf. Once he was close enough, he saw that the object that was lodged between the armour was a piece of paper.

 

“You found something, Joker?” asked Ryuji.

 

“I think so,” replied Ren. He pulled out the paper. Looking at the paper, Ren could see that it was a map of the palace. “We got a map.”

 

“Nice work Joker!” exclaimed Morgana.

 

“Yeah, a map is gonna make this a hell of a lot easier,” said Ryuji.

 

Ren inspected further, noticing that it wasn’t a complete map. “Well, it’s a map of half the palace.”

 

“We’ll just have to find the other half,” said Mina.

 

“Hell yeah!” yelled Ryuji.

 

“We should probably keep going,” said Morgana. “The quicker we get through this palace the better.”

 

The rest of the team nodded in agreement, and soon they continued to walk through the palace. At one point, they reached a spiral staircase.

 

“Where do you think it leads up too?” asked Ryuji.

 

“Only one way to find out,” said Mina as she began to head up the stairs.

 

“Hey, wait up!” called out Ryuji as he followed her. Ren only shrugged before he began to follow. Morgana followed in tow.

 

Upon reaching the top of the staircase, the team found a locked door. “Do you think we should use one of the keys?” asked Mina.

 

“Obviously,” said Ryuji, as he dug the key out from his pocket. “We get keys and then there is a locked door. It makes sense.”

 

“To think somebody that dumb would be able to figure it out,” said Morgana.

 

“Hey, are you mocking me?!”

 

“Oh no, not at all,” said Morgana in a jokey tone. Ryuji mumbled something as he put the key into the lock, and unlocked the door. Upon opening the door, the team saw that there was a prison cell inside.

 

“What a weird place to put a jail,” said Ren as he stepped in. He then noticed that there was a prisoner in the cell. The prisoner had messy green hair and was very thin, to the point of malnourishment. He also noticed that there was a second locked door in the room, presumably leading outside.

 

“What? When did Midoriya get here?” asked a confused Mina.

 

“That ain’t Midoriya,” said Ryuji. “I mean, it ain’t the real Midoriya.”

 

“It’s a cognitive version of Midoriya,” said Morgana. “Basically what Bakugou thinks of him.”

 

“That’s Terrible...” said Mina.

 

“What are you guys doing here?” asked the Cognitive Midoriya. “Nobody is supposed to open that door.”

 

“We’re here to stop Bakugou!” exclaimed Mina with a smile.

 

“Why bother?” Cognitive Midoriya looked down at the ground. “Lord Bakugou is so strong and amazing. It’s no use going against him.”

 

“Why are you saying? He put you in this prison. Wouldn’t you want to stop him?” Mina was confused and worried.

 

“I made a fool of him. I shouldn’t have hidden my quirk from him for so long. No this is my punishment. I deserve it, honestly.”

 

“How can somebody hide their quirk?” asked Mina to herself.

 

“I even told him that somebody gave me their quirk. That was enough to put me in here until I starve to death. I just have to live with my choices now…”

 

All of this was too much for Mina. Giving a quirk? That goes against everything that she’s learned about quirks “I… What…?” She didn’t know what to believe.

 

However, Ren and Ryuji had minimal knowledge, and Morgana knew next to nothing about quirks. As such, they weren’t as nearly confused. “Well, you know what?” began Ryuji. “And I know your Lord Bakugou can hear this, even if it’s subconscious. You can’t deem people worthy to live or not based on what they say to you!” Ryuji was practically fuming.

 

“And we’re going to take that heart of your too, just to prove that we’re serious!” added Morgana.

 

The Cognitive Midoriya sighed. “You guys have no idea what you’re doing, aren’t you?” he said.  “You’ve made an enemy that you don’t want.”

 

“Trust me, we’ve fought way worse than Bakugou. He’s nothing compared to them,” said Ryuji.

 

Suddenly, the air felt tenser. “I… I think the security level just increased,” said Ren.

 

“That means he did hear us,” said Ryuji with a smirk.

 

“We should probably be going too,” said Morgana. “Who knows if shadows are coming.”

 

“Yeah,” said Ren in agreement. “Let’s see if we can get away through outside.” Ren walked to the door and took out his key. He unlocked the door and saw a balcony. Ren and the rest of his team walked out onto the balcony. The first thing they noticed was that they were high up, due to being at one of the towers of the fortress. The second thing they noticed was that there was an old, rickety, wooden bridge leading to another tower.

 

“Of course there is a bridge,” said Ryuji, who was annoyed. Mina was still speechless from before.

 

“I say that only two of us go first. You know, to test how strong the bridge is,” said Ren.

 

“Good idea,” said Morgana. “I say that Joker and Skull go first. They’re both probably the heaviest of all of us, so if it doesn’t break for them it’ll be fine for Raccoon and me.”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” said Ren.

 

“If everybody else agrees with it,” groaned Ryuji. “Let’s go, Joker.” Ren and Ryuji began to cross the bridge. Each step they took, the could feel the bridge move. They held tightly to the rope used as a sort of railing. However, even as the bridge felt unstable, the bridge still held.

 

When Ren and Ryuji were about halfway across the bridge, they saw a figure sprinting towards them at the end of the bridge. “Oh shit… That’s Shadow Bakugou,” said Ryuji. They could feel the vibrations from each step Shadow Bakugou took on the bridge.

 

Very quickly, Shadow Bakugou reached the two. “Die!” yelled Shadow Bakugou as he lunged at them. He was able to punch Ren, knocking him back a foot or two.

 

“You came to see us again, huh? You really miss us,” said Ryuji, trying to mock Shadow Bakugou.

 

“You’re the one insinuating such lies.” Shadow Bakugou’s eyes narrowed at Ryuji.

 

“They ain’t lies!”

 

Mina and Morgana watched in fear. Mina finally spoke up. “Should we help them?” she asked.

 

“I don’t think so…” answered Morgana. “The bridge can barely hold the three of them.”

 

Morgana was right, The bridge seemed to be struggling to hold the weight of all three of them. The ropes holding the bridge to the balcony that Morgana and Mina were on were strained and could break at any moment.

 

“I’m guessing you want to kill us or something like that, right?” said Ren.

 

“Why wouldn’t I? You have been trespassing in my fortress for far too long,” retorted Shadow Bakugou.

 

“Oh yeah?! Hit us with your best sho-” began Ryuji before he was kicked in the right side by Shadow Bakugou. Ryuji was caught off guard by the kick, stumbled to the left. Ryuji pressed against the rope railing, offsetting the bridge. This was enough to snap the ropes on Mina and Morgana’s side. Quickly, Mina and Morgana sprung into action and grabbed onto the ropes.

 

“God damn…” said Mina. “It’s up to us to make sure they don’t fall.”

 

“Then hold on tight!” exclaimed Morgana.

 

“Damn it!” exclaimed Ryuji.

 

“Why won’t you die!” yelled Shadow Bakugou. Shadow Bakugou then punched Ryuji in the stomach. This punch was enough for Ryuji to tumble over the ropes and fall off the bridge.

 

“Skull!” yelled Mina in surprise and worry.

 

“Oh shit!” yelled Ryuji as he fell. “Seiten Taisei!” One Ryuji yelled that his masked disappeared. Underneath Ryuji, his persona appeared and caught him. Ryuji let out a sigh of relief.

 

Shadow Bakugou turns to Ren. “I hope you put up a better fight than him,” he said.

 

Ren took out his knife ready for battle. “You won’t beat me,” replied Ren.

 

“Be careful, Ren!” called out Morgana. “You can’t kill him!”

 

“Oh, I won’t!”

 

Shadow Bakugou laughed. “I guess you won’t be putting up a fight then if you aren’t gonna try to kill me.” Shadow Bakugou sprung into action. He leaped towards Ren. Ren jumped back, slashing at Shadow Bakugou.

 

The bridge wobbled with every move the two made. Ren could tell that the ropes at the side opposite of Mina and Morgana were beginning to strain as well. “Skull! Get to the end. The ropes!” exclaimed Ren.

 

Without saying anything more, Ryuji nodded. “Alright!” said Ryuji. Seiten Taisei then began to carry Ryuji to the end of the bridge.

 

“Oh no you don’t!” yelled Shadow Bakugou as he ran towards the end of the bridge, hoping to beat Ryuji there.

 

“Oh yes he will!” retorted Ren. Ren, using his quirk, sent a tendril towards Shadow Bakugou. The tendril grabbed onto Shadow Bakugou’s right leg, causing him to trip. Ren then pulled Shadow Bakugou back closer to him. “Your fight is with me, right?”

 

“Damn you!” yelled Shadow Bakugou as she stood back up. With the extra time, Ryuji was able to make it to the end of the bridge, and not a moment too soon. Just as Ryuji made it, the ropes began to snap. Quickly, Ryuji grabbed onto the ropes.

 

“I got this, Joker!” exclaimed Ryuji with a grin.

 

Ren waited for Shadow Bakugou to act. He knew he couldn’t win an offensive game, so he had to try to win a defensive one. Soon enough, Shadow Bakugou made his move. He attempted to kick Ren in the gut, but Ren managed to grab onto Shadow Bakugou’s leg and counter with a light jab to the face. “Damn it! I’m supposed to win!” yelled Shadow Bakugou. He sent Ren a flurry of punches, with the added explosions from his quirk. Ren was able to dodge the first few, but eventually one of them hit.

 

Ren was knocked to the right and off the bridge. Luckily, Ren managed to grab onto the rope railing. As Ren fell, he held tightly on the railing, causing the bridge to be flipped over. “Holy shit!” yelled Ryuji. “I never knew Joker was this good.”

 

As the bridge flipped over, Shadow Bakugou jumped so he could stay on top. “Dumb move, you should have just let yourself die,” said Shadow Bakugou. “‘Cause now I have the underhand!”

 

“Mona, go help Joker!” yelled Mina. “I can hold the bridge.”

 

“Are you sure?” asked Morgana.

 

“Very! Now go!” Morgana then gave Mina the two ropes he was holding and began to run down the bridge. First, he ran on two feet, holding his sword with one of his upper paws, but quickly he began to run on all fours, holding his sword in his mouth. Luckily, Shadow Bakugou’s back was facing Morgana, so he was unaware of the cat encroaching on him.

 

As Morgana got close to Shadow Bakugou, he threw his sword into one of the planks in front of him, lodging the blade of the sword into the plank. Then Morgana jumped on the hilt of the sword, and then on to Shadow Bakugou’s head. Once on the Shadow Bakugou’s head, Morgana began to scratch wildly.

 

“Get off of me you damn cat!” yelled Shadow Bakugou. He grabbed Morgana on threw him forwards on the bridge.

 

“Perfect…” said Morgana. Instead of charging back at Shadow Bakugou, Morgana ran towards the end of the bridge. “Mercurius!” yelled Morgana as his persona appeared behind him.

 

“What the?!” yelled Shadow Bakugou. Mercurius charged at Shadow Bakugou, pushing him behind Morgana’s sword. Mercurius charged at Shadow Bakugou again, only this time he grabbed Morgana’s sword.

 

Just as Mercurius grabbed onto the sword, Morgana yelled. “Joker, now!” Ren, understanding what Morgana wanted, flipped the bridge and himself back to its original position. Shadow Bakugou instinctively jumped so he could stay on top of the bridge, but while he was in the air Mercurious grabbed onto him with the arm that wasn’t holding the sword.

 

While that was happening Morgana and Ren had run towards the end of the bridge. “You think we got him beat for now?” asked Ryuji.

 

“Oh yeah! Definitely!” yelled Morgana as he made to the balcony with Ryuji. Ren soon also made it. Once Mercurius got close enough to Mina, he threw Shadow Bakugou into the tower. Then, he grabbed onto Mina, who then let go of the ropes.

 

“Man, I can’t believe that worked!” exclaimed Ryuji as he let go of the ropes, causing the bridge to fall.

 

“Damn it! Mark my words, I’ll kill all you bastards!” yelled Shadow Bakugou as he watched Mercurius fly back to Morgana.

 

Once Mercurius made it to Morgana, he set down Mina and gave Morgana his sword before disappearing. “Oh my god! That was super awesome!” exclaimed Mina.

 

“Yeah…” said Ren, who was visibly tired from the fight. “Let’s find a way out of here, now that the bridge is gone.”

 

“That would be a smart idea,” said Morgana. The group then entered the tower and began to walk down the spiral staircase.

 

Once reaching the bottom of the staircase, they saw a path leading forward, a safe room to the right, and a door with a chain keeping it shut on the left. “Hey Skull, you think you can break that chain?” asked Ren.

 

“You know it,” said Ryuji with a grin. Ryuji took out his weapon and slammed it into the chain a couple times. After three hits, the chain broke, letting them opened the door. Once opening the door, they saw that they were back at the entrance of the fortress.

 

“This is good,” began Ren. “Now we don’t have to worry about there not being a bridge. Anyways let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

 

Quickly, the group left the palace and exited the Metaverse. The four found themselves back at UA. “Holy shit, palaces ain’t playing around here,” said Ryuji.

 

“Didn’t you say that you guys fight the palace owners, though?” asked Mina.

 

“We did, but it was when we got the treasure. And they turned into a monster too.”

 

“If his shadow is that strong in his regular form, I don’t even want to think about what it’s like when he’s transformed,” said Morgana.

 

“It must be crazy strong,” said Mina with a frown. “Anyways, I should probably head home. See ya guys later!” Mina waves goodbye, and so did Ren and Ryuji. Then, she ran off, heading home.

 

“Yo, Ren. We should prolly head back as well,” said Ryuji.

 

“Yeah, let’s do that.” The three then began their walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a bit disappointed by how little I showed Ren and Ryuji fight during the Battle Trial, so I decided to have a fight in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it!


	12. Choosing The Class Rep

The next day, Ren and Ryuji were walking towards UA when they heard Mina call out to them. “Hey guys, wait up!” Mina ran up to the two. “Thank God I caught you two.”

 

“We’re in the same class, Mina,” said Ryuji. “You were gonna see us either way.”

 

“I know that!” Mina lightly punched Ryuji in the shoulder. “But I wanna talk to you guys about something related to… you know!”

 

Morgana popped his head out of Ren’s bag. “What is it?” he asked.

 

“Well, I realized that we couldn’t communicate with each other outside of school.” Mina took out her phone. “I thought we should exchange our numbers and chat IDs.”

 

“Oh shit… why didn’t we do that sooner?” asked Ryuji to himself.

 

“I think that’s a great idea,” said Ren, as he took out his phone. Ryuji soon followed, taking out his phone as well. “This should let us work more efficiently.”

 

Mina spoke once their information had been exchanged. “Alright! I’ll make a group chat.” Very quickly, Ren and Ryuji got a message from Mina.

 

 **Alien_Queen:** Test

 

“I got it,” said Ren, looking back at Mina.

 

“Me too,” said Ryuji.

 

“Alright, sweet!” exclaimed Mina with a smile.

 

“Communication is key if we want to succeed,” said Morgana. “On and off the battlefield.”

 

Ren nodded in agreement. “He’s right,” he said. “Now, we should head inside. Don’t want to be late, right?”

 

“I don’t even want to know what Mr. Aizawa would do to us if we were,” said Mina, who shuttered at the thought. “Oh! One more thing before we head in. What… What do you guys think about that cognitive Midoriya saying somebody game him his quirk.”

 

“Well, uh, I dunno,” said Ryuji. “Ren and I don’t know much about this world.”

 

“If I remember correctly, quirks are genetic,” began Ren. “So it is a bit odd. But, considering how different quirks can be, I can’t really throw the idea out altogether.”

 

“Huh? What do you mean?” asked Mina.

 

“Well, couldn’t there be a quirk that can give quirks?”

 

“I don’t get it,” said Ryuji, tilting his head in confusion. “Wouldn’t his quirk just let him give other people that same quirk and not the whole super strength thing?”

 

“You’re looking at it wrong,” said Morgana. “Say I was the guy with that quirk, Ren is somebody with a super strength quirk, and you’re Midoriya. I can transfer my quirk to Ren who can then transfer his super strength to you.”

 

“But… How… Why haven’t they found somebody with that quirk yet?” asked Mina. She was very confused.

 

“Maybe doctors and scientists didn’t bother because a person with that quirk would just look quirkless on their own,” said Ren.  “Or maybe it was passed down to people who had quirks for so long that anybody else who knew about it was long gone, and Midoriya was the first person to get it who didn’t have a quirk beforehand.”

 

“I guess that makes sense.” Mina looked down at her feet. “But, we can’t really prove any theories, can’t we?”

 

“Not without looking suspicious,” said Ren.

 

Mina sighed. “Alright. Let’s get going.”

 

* * *

 

Soon, they made it to the school, but they saw a massive crowd of people at the front gate. It appears that the media was there. Ren saw some students being interrogated by a news reported. “Let’s just sneak on through, and hope we don’t get seen,” said Ren.

 

“Hey you three!” yelled one reporter. The reporter ran up to them and pointed her mic at them. “You three are students at UA, right? What is it like being trained under All Might?”

 

“The hell?” began Ryuji. But before Ryuji could say more, Ren put his hand over Ryuji’s mouth.

 

“No comment,” said Ren. He then grabbed onto Ryuji and Mina and pulled them through the crowd and to the entrance. About halfway to the front doors, they heard the same reporter talking to Aizawa.

 

“Please sir, can you get All Might for us. Also, you look like a mess, what’s your deal?”

 

“All Might isn’t on campus,” said Aizawa. “Now get out of here. You disturbed my students enough.” Aizawa made a shooing motion with his hand. Aizawa began to walk towards the school.

 

“But my viewers want to know how he’s adjusting to life as a teacher!” Aizawa was unfazed and kept walking. “Alright! If you won’t get All Might, I’ll have to get him myself.” The reporter began to walk forwards, despite a warning from a cameraman.

 

After the reporter crossed a certain point, there was a loud buzzing sound. Then the gate closed off, with multiple layers of metal raising up the top, stopping the reporter from going any further. “What happened?” asked the reporter.

 

“Don’t you know about the school’s defenses?” said the cameraman. “This gate is the UA Barrier.”

 

“Defences? It almost killed me!”

 

“Well, it’s designed to stop anybody who doesn’t have a student ID or a special pass from entering the campus. Apparently, there are security sensors like that all over the place.”

 

“Keeping us out, huh! This school thinks it’s untouchable! The least they can do is grant me one interview!”

 

* * *

 

Later, classes began. “Great work on the battle training,” said Aizawa. “I saw the video feed and went over each team’s results. Bakugou, you’re talented, so don’t sulk about your loss, okay?” Bakugou gave Aizawa an angry look.

 

“Yeah, whatever,” said Bakugou.

 

“And Midoriya,” began Aizawa. Midoriya looks down at his desk when he heard his name. “I see that the only reason you won was that you messed up your arm again. Work harder, and don’t give me the excuse that you can’t control it. That line is already getting old. You can’t keep breaking your body while training here, but your quirk would be very useful if you can get a handle on it.” Midoriya looked up at Aizawa and smiled. “So show a little urgency.”

 

“Right!” exclaimed Midoriya.

 

“Now let’s get down to business. Your first task will decide your future.” The class grimaced. They were prepared for another test like that first day of school. “You all need to pick a class representative.” The class sighed with relief. Then the class turned to chaos.

 

“Pick me, guys! I wanna be class rep,” called out Kirishima.

 

“I’ll take it,” said Kaminari as he raised his hand.

 

“Yeah, you’re gonna need me,” said Jiro.

 

“Someone with style would be best!” called out Yuga.

 

“I’d totally be the right pick!” exclaimed Mina.

 

“Silence! Everyone, please!” yelled Iida. Everybody else stopped talking and looked over at him. “The class representative's duty is to lead others. That’s a job that just anybody can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical way to choose is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader.”

 

“It’s pretty obvious that you want us to vote for you,” said some students in unison.

 

“Is this really the best idea?” asked Kaminari.

 

“We’ve only known each over for a few days,” said Tsuyu. “How do we know if we can trust them?”

 

“‘Sides, everyone will just vote for themselves,” said Kirishima.

 

“Most people will,” responded Iida. “But that just means whoever does receive multiple votes must truly be the most suitable person for the job.” Iida turned to look at Aizawa. “This is the best way, right sir?”

 

“Do what you want, just decide before my nap is over,” said Aizawa who already gotten into his sleeping bag. After speaking, Aizawa fell onto the floor and began sleeping.

 

“Thank you for your trust!”

 

Later, the voting had finished. Most students, including Ren, had only one vote. Ryuji, Iida, Mina, and Todoroki had zero votes. Hagakure was absent so she couldn’t vote. Yaoyorozu got three votes, and Midoriya got four.

 

“How did I get four votes?!” exclaimed Midoriya.

 

“Okay, you idiots! Who voted for him?!” yelled Bakugou.

 

“What? Did you honestly think we were going to vote for you?” asked Sero.

 

Iida seemed a bit crushed. “Zero votes… I feared this would happen, but I can’t deny the system I chose.”

 

“So you voted for somebody else, huh?” asked Yaoyorozu.

 

“But you knew it was best to vote for yourself, right?” began Sato. “What were you trying to prove here, Iida?”

 

“Alright, the class rep is Midoriya,” said Aizawa as Midoriya walked up the front of the class. He seemed to be having some anxiety over this, “And our deputy is Yaoyorozu.” Yaoyorozu walked up the front of the class as well, however she didn’t didn’t seem to have any anxiety about it.

 

“Really? This isn’t a mistake?” asked Midoriya.

 

“Ugh, how could this happen?” said Yaoyorozu. She was frustrated.

 

“This might not be so bad,” said Tsuyu.

 

“Yeah, I could get behind Midoriya,” said Kirishima.

 

“Yaoyorozu was totally on top of it when it came to our training results,” added Kaminari.

 

During lunch, that same day, Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, Ren, Ryuji, and Mina all sat together. “Oh, it’s always so crowded in here,” said Uraraka.

 

“I know, right?!” exclaimed Mina in agreement.

 

“Well, it’s because all first-year students share the same cafeteria,” said Iida.

 

Uraraka ate her lunch with a smile. “This rice is delicious!” she exclaimed.

 

“We gotta try the ramen,” said Ryuji.

 

“Guys, I’m kinda worried about the class rep thing,” said Midoriya. “I don’t think I’m qualified.”

 

“Sure you are,” said Uraraka.

 

“Yeah, you’ll be fine,” said Ren.

 

“Not just fine, you’ll be great,” said Iida. “You’re courage and quick thinking under stress will help you become a great leader. Not to mention the strength you’ve demonstrated. Those are the reason’s I voted for you.”

 

“You were one of them?” asked Midoriya.

 

“Hey, I voted for you too, Midoriya,” said Ryuji. “They way you acted during the battle trial, well, I’ll say that I’m impressed.”

 

“Hehe, guys. Stop it,” said Midoriya, getting embarrassed by their complements.

 

“Hey Iida, didn’t you want to be class rep?” asked Uraraka. “I mean, you look the part. ‘Cause of your glasses.”

 

“Wanting a job and being suited towards it are two different things,” responded Iida. “Observing the Iida family hero agency has taught me that.”

 

”Agency?” asked Mina.

 

“Hold on, what does your family do?” asked Midoriya.

 

“Uh… It’s nothing,” said Iida.

 

“You know, I’ve been wondering something about you,” began Uraraka. “Admit it! You’re filthy rich, aren’t you?!”

 

“I was afraid people would treat me different if they knew about my family,” said Iida, who was caught off guard by Uraraka’s outburst. Midoriya, Uraraka, Ren, Ryuji, and Mina all looked at Iida intently. “You see, the Iidas have been pro heroes for generations. It runs in our blood.”

 

“Impressive,” said Ren.

 

“That’s so cool!” exclaimed Ryuji.

 

“Are you guys familiar with the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?” said Iida.

 

“You’re related to him?!” exclaimed Mina.

 

“I know all about him!” said Midoriya. “He’s a super popular pro, with 65 sidekicks working alongside him at his Tokyo agency. Wait, don’t tell me...”

 

“He is my elder brother,” said Iida with pride.

 

“Your family is famous!” said Uraraka.

 

“I can’t believe it,” added Midoriya.

 

“Ingenium is an unmatched commander who honors the hero code,” said Iida. “As the second oldest Iida son, I strive to be just like him. However, I think it might be too soon for me to be in a leadership position.” Iida looked at Midoriya. “You, for example, figured out what the judges were looking for in the practical exam. A rep needs that sort of insight.” Iida then noticed the others looking at him weirdly.

 

“That’s the first time I saw you smile, Iida,” said Uraraka. “You should do it more.”

 

“What are you talking about? I smile all the time.”

 

“Hey, so about that practical exam,” began Midoriya.

 

Suddenly, an alarm went off. “Warning! Level three security breach,” said a voice through the intercom.

 

“No way,” said a student sitting at the same table as the group.

 

“All students are to evacuate the building in an orderly fashion.”

 

“What is a level three security breach?” asked Iida to the student.

 

“It means the somebody was able to make it past the school’s barriers,” said the student. “This hasn’t happened in all my years at this school.” The student seemed to be panicked. “We should get going!” The student then ran off. Iida, and the rest, soon followed.

 

Eventually, they found themselves in a hallway leading to an exit. It was crowded and the students were all panicked, elbowing and bumping into each other.”Quit shoving so hard!” yelled Ryuji. “I said stop pushing me!”

 

“Ow! This is a total mob!” called out Uraraka.

 

“Everybody was quick to react,” said Iida. “As I would expect from UA students.”

 

“Sure, but they’re also causing a huge panic!” yelled Midoriya. Suddenly, Midoriya was pushed further into the crowd. “Oh guys, I can’t stop!”

 

Iida pushed his way to a window, looking out towards the entrance. “Who in the world could have trespassed onto campus grounds?” Through the window, Iida saw that the people who were trespassing were actually the media. “It’s… the press?! I was afraid there was an attack on the school.” Iida turned his head to the crowd. “There’s no reason to worry everybody!” The crowd didn’t listen, and Iida was pushed into the window.

 

“Everyone! Stop freaking out!” yelled Kirishima.

 

Thinking quickly, Iida began to push his way towards Uraraka. “I have an idea!” Iida reached his hand out to Uraraka. “Touch my hand! Make me float above everybody else!”

 

“Oh!” Uraraka reached over, and after two tries was able to touch Iida and use her quirk. Iida jumped into the air, floating about everybody else. He lifted up the legs of his pants, and his exhaust pipes extended.

 

“Engine boost, go!” As his legs propelled him forwards, he spun around.

 

“What’s he doing?” asked Mina.

 

Quickly, Iida reached the end of the hallway. He grabbed onto a pipe to keep himself from falling. “Listen up! Everything is okay!” The hallway turned quiet. “It’s just the media outside! There is absolutely nothing to worry about! Everything is fine! We’re UA students, we need to remain calm and prove that we’re the best of the best!” The hallway calmed down, just as they could hear police sirens.

 

“Look, the police are here!” called out one student.

 

“Thank goodness,” said another.

 

Soon, classes started again. “It’s time class rep, let’s begin,” said Yaoyorozu.

 

“Um, okay. We need to figure out who the other class officers will be,” said Midoriya through his stutters. “But first, there is something I want to say. I’ve thought a lot about this… and I think that Iida Iida should be our class rep.” Iida was surprised. “He was able to capture everybody’s attention and get us in line. So I believe that he should be the one leading our class from now on.”

 

“Yeah, you know what?” began Kirishima. “If Midoriya vouches for him, I’m good. Plus, he was a big help. He totally took charge of the situation."

 

“Yup,” said Kaminari in agreement. “DId you notice that he looked like the dude on the emergency exit signs when he was on the wall earlier?”

 

“This is a waste of time,” said Aizawa. “I don’t care who the rep is, just hurry up.”

 

Iida stood up. “If Midoriya is nominating me for this job, then I humbly accept. I pledge to carry out the duties of a class rep to the best of my abilities.”

 

“Sounds good, Emergency Exit,” said Kirishima.

 

“Emergency Exit Iida,” said Kaminari. “Don’t let us down, man.”

 

“I got two more votes than him…” said Yaoyorozu to herself.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, classes ended. Ren, Ryuji, and Mina met at the entrance. “You guys wanna go in today?” asked Ren.

 

“Totally,” said Ryuji. Mina nodded in agreement.

 

“Alright, but first we’re gonna need a hideout.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we'll head back to Palace crawling.
> 
> Also, comments are appreciated.


	13. Context

“A hideout?” asked Mina. “Why would we need one?”

 

“It makes it easier for us,” said Morgana, who jumped out of Ren’s bag.

 

“But we’re in the same class, wouldn’t it just be harder for us?” Mina tilted her head in confusion.

 

“Think of it as our designated meeting spot,” began Ren. “Sometimes we won’t go in immediately after school, or we might go in on Sunday.”

 

“It’ll be way too ‘effin hard to plan that every time,” said Ryuji. “Especially if we get more team members.”

 

“Ooooh, I get it,” said Mina. “But where should we have it?”

 

“Maybe… In there,” said Ren. He pointed at an alleyway. “It isn’t far away from UA.”

 

“Great idea Ren,” said Morgana, as he began to walk towards the alleyway. Quickly, the other three followed.

 

The alleyway itself was dirty. There were a few trash bags lying on the ground, and there was an old, rusted, bike too. “Do we have to have our hideout here?” asked Mina.

 

“Eh, it’s fine,” said Ryuji, who began to lean on one of the walls.

 

“The placement is great, too,” added Morgana.

 

“‘Sides, this ain’t gonna be our only hideout.”

 

“That’s a relief,” said Mina.

 

“Well, now that we’ve chosen our hideout, let’s have a meeting,” said Ren.

 

“Alright,” said Ryuji. “Hey Morgana, how far do you think we’re in?”

 

“I’d say we’re almost hallway,” answered Morgana.

 

“Really?!” exclaimed Mina. “I thought we’d have more to go.”

 

“We may not have a lot of power, but we do have experience.”

 

“We’ll be able to steal his heart in no time!” said Ryuji with enthusiasm.

 

“Ryuji! You’re gonna blow our cover!” exclaimed Morgana.

 

“Jeez, sorry.” Ryuji crossed his arms.

 

“Anyways, let’s go in,” said Ren as he took out his phone. Quickly, he activated the Metanav, and the team entered Bakugou’s palace.

 

Once the four had disappeared, Todoroki, who had been watching the entire time, took a step back. “Something isn’t right,” he said.

 

* * *

  


Once entering Bakugou’s palace, the team quickly got back to where they last were. “Let’s do this,” said Ryuji as he continued deeper into the palace.

 

“What do you think his treasure is gonna be?” asked Ren.

 

“Nothing good,” said Morgana.

 

“It’s prolly a trophy or something like that. He wins something once, and now he thinks he’s the greatest thing of all time,” said Ryuji.

 

“So treasures are like…” said Mina. She stopped for a second to thinking. “Treasures are something related to a person’s desires, right?”

 

“You’re close. Treasures are the cause of the distorted desires,” answered Morgana. “So, whatever Bakugou’s treasure will be is the reason for how he is now.”

 

The team continued to explore the palace until they came across a mural. The mural showed what appeared to be Bakugou as a child. There were also two other kids in the mural, both seem to be older. All three kids seemed to be badly beaten.

 

“The hell?” said Ryuji.

 

Underneath the mural was an inscription. “People will hate you for being better. They will blame you and hit you. You just have to fight back,” it read.

 

“This is… unexpected,” said Ren.

 

“Let’s keep going,” said Morgana. “We can’t make any conclusions with just this.”

 

“Yeah,” said Mina.

 

The group then continued to explore the palace. Ren obtained two new personas, Pixie and Mandrake. Eventually, they came across room labeled as “The Gallery”. Upon entering, the team could see that the room was filled with art pieces depicting Bakugou.

 

“This kid and his ego,” said Ryuji.

 

Under some paintings there we inscriptions. “Those chosen for greatness have to be great. Failure is only for the weak” and “It is a dog eat dog world. You cannot let your powers go to waste,” were examples of what they would find out first.

 

Before the group could venture further into the room, Ren stopped them. “Guys, I found another map,” said Ren. Ren picked up the map and showed it to the rest of the team. Unlike the first map, this map showed the almost the entire palace, except for a gap between the treasure room and the rest of the palace.

 

“What’s that gap right there?” asked Mina.

 

“That’s probably where the distortion is strongest,” answered Morgana.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Where the distortion is strongest, the palace will go all wonky,” said Ryuji. “Like it won’t look like a fortress when we’re in there.”

 

“The fact that it’s not on the map makes it especially strong,” added Morgana.

 

“Let’s worry about it when we get there,” said Ren. “Let’s just keep going for now.”

 

As they continued through The Gallery, the inscriptions under the paintings shifted in tone. “I have to be strong”, “I can’t be number one if I rely on others”, “They said I am great, so I have to be great”, and “I must win. That’s what heroes do,” were examples of what the paintings said.

 

“Damn…” said Mina.

 

“Let’s save our talk for the safe room,” said Morgana. “Just a little more to go.”

 

From The Gallery, the team entered “The Hall of Failures”. It was much darker in this room. Once again, there were paintings of Bakugou in this room. However, these paintings showcased what Bakugou deems failures.

 

One notable painting depicted the battle trial. One difference between the painting and real life was that people were laughing at Bakugou in the painting. Another notable painting depicted Bakugou beings trapped by some sort of sludge monster. In this painting, Bakugou looked helpless in fighting the monster.

 

The team didn’t say a word as they walked through the room. They didn’t want too.

 

Eventually, they made it out of the room and to the safe room. “Holy shit…” groaned Ryuji.

 

“There is more to Bakugou than we first thought,” said Morgana.

 

“He’s probably not completely right in the head,” said Mina.

 

“So those bastard adults didn’t do anything to help him!” yelled Ryuji as he slammed his fist on the table. “They just had to indulge him!”

 

“This doesn’t excuse what he’s done, though,” said Ren.

 

“Yeah,” said Mina as she nodded in agreement. “It’s just another reason to steal his heart.”

 

“Even when our target isn’t one, they’re always the product of an adult,” remarked Morgana.

 

“It pisses me off!” exclaimed Ryuji.

 

“Well, we still gotta keep going,” said Ren. “We have around half of the palace to go, still.”

 

The rest of the team nodded in agreement as they stood up and left the safe room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter! It was a busy week for me. 
> 
> Also, I'm looking for proofreaders. If you're interested, just say so in the comments.


	14. Route Secured!

The team continued to explore Bakugou’s Palaces, fighting shadows and solving minor puzzles.  Eventually, the four found an area with a massive hole in the wall. “What the?” muttered Ryuji to himself.

 

“Oh, look!” exclaimed Mina, pointing towards something that she could see through the hole. What she saw was what appeared to be a farming-field set on fire.

 

“That must be the training grounds,” said Morgana.

 

“He loses once and his entire world breaks,” grumbled Ryuji. “This kid really does have problems.”

 

“And he was really dominating Midoriya too,” added Mina. “But because he lost in the end, it doesn’t matter. At least to him.”

 

“What he thinks right now won’t matter once we steal his heart,” said Morgana.

 

“Hell yeah!” exclaimed Ryuji.

 

“Right,” said Ren.

 

“You got it, Mona,” said Mina.

 

“Alright,” began Morgana. “The most distorted part of the palace is just ahead. If we make it through there then we’ll have our route all set.”

 

“Let’s do this,” said Ryuji.

 

With a nod of agreement, the team began to head deeper into the palace.

 

Quickly, they found a door with strange noises coming from behind it. “This is it,” said Ren.

 

“We can’t just waste time talking,” said Mina. “Let’s head in.” Mina grabbed onto the door and opened it. She walked in, and then was quickly followed by the rest.

 

On the other side of the door was a new world, as it seemed. The four were in a giant dome of fire. The dome was flooded with the same liquid as before, only this time there is a lot more of it. The only reason Ren, Ryuji, Mina, and Morgana were standing was because there were platforms made of rock floating in the liquid.

 

“Holy shit,” said Mina. “You weren’t kidding.”

 

“Of course we weren’t,” said Ryuji. “Now, let’s fight these shadows and get through this place.”

 

The team did as Ryuji said, jumping from platform to platform. They fought shadows and soon made it to the door leading back to the regular palace. However, the door wouldn’t open when they tried to open it. “The hell?!”

 

“Looks like we need a key,” said Morgana.

 

“Where would the key be?’ asked Mina. “We aren’t really in a place where it would be hard to miss.”

 

While the others were talking, Ren activated his third eye. Quickly, he saw that there was a section of the ground that was weaker than the rest of it. “Skull, I need you to do something,” said Ren.

 

“What do ya’ need?” asked Ryuji as he turned to face Ren.

 

“Can you shoot right here.” Ren tapped his foot on the weak spot.

 

“You sure about that? I don’t wanna sink ourselves into flammable shit.”

 

“It’ll be fine. Trust me.”

 

“If you say so.” Ryuji took out his shotgun. “I hope you’re right.” Ryuji then fired his gun at the weak spot. The weak spot broke, but there was no liquid below, only a long ladder leading below.

 

“We gotta go down there?” asked Mina.

 

“Looks like it,” answered Morgana.

 

“It’s like you said Mina,” began Joker. “We can’t waste time talking about this.” Joker then began to climb down the ladder. Morgana then followed.

 

“You ran into that one,” said Ryuji with a chuckle. He then began to climb down the ladder. With a groan, Mina finally began her descent.

 

Once they reached the bottom, they found themselves in a dimly lit room. Then they could hear groans of people calling for help. “Where the hell are we?” asked Ryuji.

 

Ren activated his third eye and scanned the room. He noticed jail cells and chains. “We’re in the real dungeon.”

 

“Of course,” said Mina.

 

Suddenly, the voices calling for help became more recognizable. The voices were their classmates. “Well, let’s find that key,” said Morgana.

 

As the four walked past the jail cells some students begged to be let out. Other students just stayed silent.

 

“Holy shit…,” muttered Ryuji.

 

Eventually, they reached the end of the dungeon. There waiting for them was a shadow. “Huh? What are doing out of your cages?” asked the shadow.

 

“We aren’t the prisoners,” said Ryuji.

 

“We’re the thieves,” said Morgana jokingly.

 

“Oh, really,” began the shadow. “Then I’ll just have to deal with you.”

 

“Bring it on!” exclaimed Mina.

 

Just as Mina said that the shadow began to shift and change. It turned into a male angel with a pure black face and wings. It wore red armor and hat and wielded a spear and shield. The shadow slammed its spear into the ground, causing the ground to shake, damaging the team.

 

“My turn!” yelled Ryuji. “Seiten Taisei, Headbutt!” Ryuji’s mask disappeared and his persona formed behind him. Seiten Taisei hit the shadow with its club, causing damage. “Alright Joker, your turn.”

 

Ren stepped forward. “Arsene,” said Ren. His mask disappeared and Arsene formed about him. “Eiha.” Arsene did just as commanded and sent some dark energy towards the shadow, doing a lot of damaged and nocking the shadow down.

 

“Are we gonna do it?” asked Ryuji.

 

“Yes, it’s time for an all-out attack.”

 

The team ran towards the shadow with their weapons and began to attack it all at once When the dust settled from the attack, Ren landed. “The Show’s Over.”

 

In place of the shadow, there was a key.

 

“Well, here it is,” said Morgana, picking up the key. “Let’s head back.”

 

“Yeah,” said Mina in agreement.

 

Quickly, the four made it back to the exit door. Morgana handed the key to Ren, who then put the key into the door. As expected, the door unlocked. “Nice!” exclaimed Ryuji.

 

“Let’s go find the treasure and then we can leave,” said Morgana.

 

“Yeah,” said Ren. Ren opened the door and exited the area with the rest of the team.

 

They found themselves in a throne room. It was extravagant. The walls were lined with gold, and it was filled with treasures. “How do we know which one is the treasure we’re looking for?” asked Mina.

 

“It’s that one right there,” said Morgana, pointing up in the air. If one would look closely, they could see some sort of aura floating where Morgana was pointing.

 

“But… How do we take it?”

 

“We gotta send a calling card first,” said Ryuji.

 

“But they’d know that we’re going after them.”

 

“Which is exactly what we need. They know we’re going to stealing their distorted desires, so the treasure will manifest,” said Morgana.

 

“But what if we get caught?”

 

“We’ve done this seven times before,” said a grinning Ryuji. “We can do it again. Just let me handle it.”

 

“Your calling card was a bit lacking, Skull,” said Morgana.

 

“That ain’t true!” exclaimed Ryuji.

 

“Let’s just get out of here and talk about the calling card tomorrow,” said Ren. Ren then scanned the room for a quick way out. Luckily, there was a door at the end of the room, with a chain locking it. “Skull, can you break that chain over there?”

 

“On it,” said Ryuji as he walked over to the door. He took out his shotgun and shot the chain, breaking it. The door led to the entrance of the palace. The team shortly left afterward.

 

* * *

 

 

Soon, the team phased back into the real world. “Finally,” groaned Ryuji. “I’m gonna sleep like a rock.”

 

“You better, you need as much rest as you can,” said Morgana.

 

“Morgana’s right,” said Ren.

 

“None of your quirks are teleportation,” said a voice behind them. “Nor cloaking.” The four turned and saw Aizawa looked at them.

 

“Ai-Aizawa, weird seeing you here,” said Mina.

 

“You don’t have to lie, I saw you phase in. I also saw you talk to your cat. Logically speaking, this shouldn’t be happening.”

 

“You can’t prove anything,” said a panicked Ryuji.

 

“I know you’re all planning something.” Aizawa narrowed his eyes. “But, because you aren’t using your quirks, I can’t say that it’s illegal… yet. When whatever you’re planning does happen, I expect you see me.” Ren could then feel a strange feeling overtake himself yet again.

 

_I am thou, thou art I…_

_Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 

_It shall become the wings of rebellion_

_That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 

_With the birth of the Hierophant Persona_

_I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

_Shall lead to freedom and new power…_

 

With that said, Aizawa walked off without a goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're so close to the end of Baugou's places!
> 
> And I'd like to thank havefeith for proofreading this chapter
> 
> The current confidants are  
> Fool - Rank 1  
> Magician - Rank 1  
> Hierophant - Rank 1  
> Lover - Rank 1  
> Chariot - Rank 1  
> Sun - Rank 1


	15. Slow Down

“Dude…” began Ryuji. “What just happened?” Ryuji was obviously confused by what had just happened. How were the found out so quickly?

 

“Aizawa is smart, to say the least,” said Ren.

 

“Yeah! And he’s so intimidating too,” added Mina. “Though he’s not going to do anything until after we change Bakugou’s heart, so we’re safe.”

 

“I doubt we’ll be able to reach the depths of Mementos from just one palace,” said Morgana. “Especially considering who we’re going after.”

 

“Morgana’s right,” said Ryuji. “Bakugou’s only a kid, and being a UA student would probably not give us a lot of attention. It’s a start but not nearly enough.”

 

“Guy,” said Ren. “I don’t think Aizawa is going to be a problem for us.”

 

“Huh? But he’s gonna be on our ass for, like, our entire time here,” said Ryuji.

 

“Not exactly. Ryuji. Morgana, you two remember how it was like for Kawakami and me?” asked Ren.

 

“Yeah,” said Ryuji. Ryuji then gasped. “Does that mean Aizawa is gonna be a maid?”

 

“No, you idiot,” said Morgana. “It means that Aizawa is going to be helping Ren in some way.”

 

“So what does that mean?” asked Mina, tilting her head a bit in confusion.

 

“It means that, essentially, Aizawa is going to be an ally of ours.”

 

“So we got nothin’ to worry about,” said Ryuji, grinning.

 

“Not exactly,” said Ren. “While, yes, he’s going to be an ally of ours, he’s also probably going to have to need our help.”

 

“How so?” asked Mina.

 

“Ren tends to ally himself with people who find themselves in bad situations,” began Morgana. “And usually we help them out by going to Mementos and stopping the shadows of the people messing with them.”

 

“You can do that in Mementos? I thought it was only for  the Yaldy guy.”

 

“Yes, reaching Yaldabaoth is our main goal while in Mementos. But remember, I said Mementos was the palace of everybody. So under certain circumstances, a specific person’s shadow could appear,” said Morgana.

“Speaking of that,” began Ryuji. “We’re gonna need a Phansite.”

 

“Fansite? What do we need that for?” asked Mina.

 

“No, no, Phansite, with a ‘ph’. And we need it because Mementos shadows need a calling card too.”

 

“But the calling cards for Mementos shadows don’t need to be as extravagant as ones for palace owners, so a simple forum post would suffice.”

 

“We might have to make our own Phansite,” said Ren. “But let’s worry about that after we steal Bakugou’s treasure.”

 

“Yeah,” agreed Ryuji. Then his stomach growled. “Damn, I’m hungry! Let’s go get some ramen.”

 

“Sounds good to me,” said Ren. “You coming with, Mina?”

 

“Sure, sounds fun,” replied Mina with a smiled. “I’m also pretty hungry too,” she sheepishly added.

 

Soon, the four found themselves in a semi-popular ramen shop, with Morgana tucked away into Ren’s bag. They sat down at the counter and ordered their food.

 

“Oh hey! I didn’t know you guys came to this shop too!” called out a familiar voice. Turning around, they could see that it was Kirishima who was talking. 

 

“Oh hey Kirishima,” said Mina, waving to him.

 

“Yo Kirishima,” began Ryuji. “This is actually the first time Ren and I have been to this shop, I dunno about Mina though. You sound like a regular though. Is the food here any good?”

 

“Oh yeah, the food here is great!” said Kirishima as he sat down next to them. “So, how do you guys know Ashido?’

 

“Uh… It’s a funny story, really,” said Ryuji, thinking of a story that doesn’t have to do with the Phantom Thieves.

 

“We hit heads,” said Ren, dryly.

 

Mina giggled. “That’s one way to put it,” she said. “We met on the train heading towards UA on the day of the exams.”

 

“That’s cool,” responded Kirishima.

 

“So you two know each other?” asked Ryuji.

 

“Yeah, we went to same middle school,” said Kirishima.

 

“That’s right,” said Mina. “Kirishima, you sure changed a lot over the break.”

 

“Haha, yeah… I wanted to change myself. You know, new year, new me, or however the saying good.”

 

“That’s a good way to look at things,” said Ryuji.

 

“Yeah…” began Mina, as she placed her hand on Kirishima’s shoulder. “Just, talk to me when you truly, finally, get over your past, ‘kay?”

 

Kirishima didn’t know how to react to this, as it was a bit out of nowhere. “Sure…?” said Kirishima, hesitantly.

 

Mina giggled. “That was a bit sudden, sorry,” said Mina. “But, I felt like I had to say it, you know? It’s just one of those things.”

 

Ren, Ryuji, Mina, and Kirishima continued to talk throughout their time at the shop.  As they were leaving, Kirishima grabbed the arm of Ren. “Hey, I need to talk to you for a sec,” said Kirishima. He looked at Ryuji and Mina. “You two can go ahead, it won’t be long.” 

 

“Alright,” said Ryuji, and he and Mina complied, going outside. 

 

“So, Amamiya,” began Kirishima. “I want to talk to you about what Ashido said.” Kirishima finally let go of Ren’s arm. “I can tell you’re the kinda guy who is that shoulder people lean on.” Ren nodded, as it was true. “I’m not gonna get all sappy with or anything,  just let’s talk at some point, man-to-man. Not now, ‘cause you gotta go catch up with the others, but you get it. We can do it while training at a gym too. I know so sweet hand-to-hand techniques.”

 

Because of Kirishima’s willingness to rely on and befriend Ren, a bong began to forge between them.

 

_ I am thou, thou art I… _

_ Thou hast acquired a new vow. _

 

_ It shall become the winds of rebellion _

_ that breaketh thy chains of captivity. _

 

_ With the birth of the Hanged Man Persona, _

_ I have obtained the winds of blessing that _

_ shall lead to freedom and new power. _

 

Ren had established the Hanged Man confidant with Kirishima. “It’s a deal,” said Ren.

 

“Awesome!” Kirishima smiled. “Now you should get going. See ya around!”

 

Ren waved goodbye and met back up with Ryuji and mina. They needed to get some rest because unbeknownst to them, things are gonna get a lot more hectic tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, finally, after my way too long hiatus. Sorry everybody for this chapter being so short, but next chapter is gonna be a lot longer because of what's about to happen.
> 
> And yeah, Kirishima is going to be the Hanged Man confidant, look forward to seeing that go down.


	16. USJ, Part 1

It was a new day and the Phantom Thieves were headed for school. They had met up on the train ride there. “So, while we’re all together,” began Ryuji, “let’s talk calling card.”

 

“Ooo, yeah!” replied Mina with excitement. “Sounds like fun… Though, what do you even do for calling cards, exactly?”

 

“Well, usually one of us would write out a couple sentences saying that ‘you’re a bad person. We’ll steal your distorted desires and make you confess your sins’.”

 

“There usually put more eloquently,” said Morgana, as he popped out of Ren’s bag.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Oh! We also had this theme with the seven deadly sins, plus vanity, Each palace owner got one of ‘em.”

 

“So which one would Bakugou be?” asked Mina.

 

“Prolly vanity to be honest.”

 

“It does make sense,” added Morgana. “The praise from others is what got Bakugou to the point he is now.”

 

“Then it’s decided, Vanity will be Bakugou’s sins.”

 

“And remember guys, we only have 24 hours to steal his treasure after he sees the calling card.”

 

“Yeah, got that imprinted in my head.”

 

“But how will we know exactly when he sees the calling card?” asked Mina.

 

“You’ll know when it happens, trust me,” said Ren, calmly. 

 

They continued to talk about a multitude of topics on the ride there, but eventually, they arrived at UA.

 

Classes went on just as usual, that was until the beginning of the afternoon heroics class. “Today’s training will be a little different,” began Aizawa. “You’ll have three instructors: Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you.” The class began to mutter amongst itself.

 

“Three pros should be interesting,” said Morgana quietly, who was hiding inside Ren’s desk.

 

“I wonder what we need all of ‘em for?” muttered Ryuji.

 

“Sir?!” called out Sero, raising his hand. “What kind of training will be dealing with?”

 

“Rescue,” answered Aizawa, pulling out a flashcard with the word written in blue text. “You’ll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, and other stuff like that.”

 

“Now that’s why we got three pros with us then,” said Ryuji. “We’ll prolly be working in groups and All Might can’t watch all of us at once.”

 

“Mhm, makes sense,” replied Ren.

 

“Disasters, huh?” began Kaminari. “Sounds like we’re in for a big workout.”

 

“Totally!” said Mina, excitedly.

 

“Real heroes, what separates the men from the boys,” said Kirishima. “I’m shaking with excitement.”

 

“Hey Ren,” said Morgana. “You’ve noticed how Kirishima places a high value on manliness?” Ren nodded. “You think what he wanted to talk to you about had to do with that, one way or another?”

 

“It’s a possibility,” said Ren.

 

“I’ll finally be able to show how good I am in water,” said Tsu. “Ribbit.”

 

“Guys, I’m not finished yet,” said Aizawa. Class 1-A stopped talking among themselves, waiting. “What you wear in this exercise is up to you. I know you’re excited about costumes.” Aizawa pressed a button on a remote, causing the 22 boxes, filled with the classes costumes, to extend out from the wall. “But keep in mind that you haven’t gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities. This special training is at an off-campus facility, so we’ll be taking a bus to get there. That’s all, start getting ready.“ With that said, Aizawa left the classroom.

 

“So, you gonna wear your costume?” asked Ryuji. “I dunno if I’m gonna wear mine, it’s kinda bulky now that I think about it.”

 

“Then why’d you design it like that?” asked Morgana.

 

“Prolly because I was thinking about myself before we came here.” Ryuji lowered his voice to a whisper. “And considering I didn’t have to deal with Kamoshida, my leg is perfectly fine.”

 

“Fair point,” responded Ren.

 

“I’ll have to see if I can get my costume tweaked later on,” said Ryuji.

 

Soon, all of the class got ready, with most deciding to wear their hero costume, and Midoriya and Ryuji opted to use their gym uniform. They went out to the front of the school and saw a bus waiting for them. Ren also decided to take his bag with him, which happened to have Morgana contained within it.

 

“So are you guys excited?” asked Mina to Ren and Ryuji.

 

“Yeah, seems pretty fun,” responded Ryuji “Though, I doubt my quirk could be used that much in rescue situations.”

 

“You never know Ryuji. Maybe you have some hidden secret ability.” Mina giggled at the thought.

 

“I think it will be a good test of your abilities,” said Morgana. “Just… Keep me away from the water areas.”

 

“Jeez, you really are a cat,” said Mina.

 

“I’m not!” huffed Morgana.

 

Suddenly, Iida blew on a whistle, and began to ramble about how the class should board the bus. But his plans failed, once he realized that the bus had an open facing segment, in the front. On the open segment’s left side was Sato, Midoriya, Tsu, Kirishima, and Ren, and on the right side was Iida, Mina, Aoyama, Kaminari, and Ryuji. With the rest sitting in regular seats towards the back half. “This bus’ open layout ruined my seating plan,” said Iida.

 

“Iida, you really need to chill,” replied Mina.

 

“I know right,” said Ryuji. “It’s just a bus, man. No need to be so worried ‘bout it.”

 

“So if we’re pointing out the obvious,” began Tsu, “then there is something I want to say.” She turned to her right to look at Midoriya. “About you, actually.” Midoriya looked surprised.

 

“Seriously? What is it Asui?” replied Midoriya.

 

“I told you to call me Tsu.”

 

“Oh right, sorry…”

 

“That power of yours, isn’t it a lot like All Might’s?”

 

“Really?! You think so, huh? I never really thought about it like that.”

 

‘All Might, huh?’ thought Ren, ‘I’ll look into that later.’

 

“Wait, hold on Tsu,” said Kirishima, making her turn to her left. “You’re forgetting All Might doesn’t hurt himself; that makes a huge difference.” Midoriya let out a sigh of relief after Kirishima said that. “Still, I bet’d be cool to have a simple augmenting quirk like that. You can do a lot of flashy stuff with it. My hardening is super strong-” Kirishima raised his left arm and hardened it, making it look rock-like “-but it doesn’t look all that impressive.”

 

“No way,” said Midoriya. “I think it’s really awesome looking.”

 

“Yeah,” agreed Ryuji. “Plus, who needs flashy lookin’ stuff when you get the job done.”

 

“Funny you’re the one to say that,” mewed Morgana, quietly, causing Ryuji to said a mean glare towards him.

 

“You’re definitely pro-hero material with a quirk like that,” said Midoriya.

 

“You think so?” asked Kirishima. “It seems like it would be easier to be a pro if I had something flashier.”

 

“My navel laser has the perfect combination of panache and strength,” said Aoyama.

 

“But it’s way lame if it gives you a stomach ache, sweetie,” retorted Mina, placing her hand on Aoyama’s shoulder.

 

“Well if any of our classmates have pro-hero quirks it’s Todoroki and Bakugou, and Amamiya’s is pretty good too.” Todoroki had fallen asleep so he didn’t hear anything, while Bakugou was staring out the window, quietly listening to the conversation. Ren at the same time was being quiet, enjoying the conversation, watching it go back and forth.

 

“Sure, but Bakugou is always angry,” said Tsu. “So he’ll never be that popular.” And there was the wrench in the conversation. Ren knew this wasn’t gonna go smoothly.

 

Suddenly Bakugou stood up. “What did you say! I’ll kick your ass!” yelled Bakugou. There it was.

 

“You know, we basically just met you,” began Kaminari. “It’s kinda telling that we already know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage.”

 

“You’ll regret the day you applied to this school, you loser!”

 

“Definitely vanity,” chuckled Morgana.

 

Bakugou continued to argue with Kaminari, with Iida also stepping in, trying to break it up. Ryuji and Mina found it kind of funny, with how Bakugou was overreacting, though not by that much, considering they knew he had a palace.

 

“Hey, hey, we’re here,” said Aizawa. “Stop messing around.”

 

Soon, the bus stopped and the class was met by a person wearing a puffy white jacket and white helmet.  “Hello everyone! I’ve been waiting for you.”

 

“It’s the Space Hero, Thirteen,” said Midoriya, in excitement. “The chivalrous pro whose rescued hundreds of people across the globe!” The class was talking amongst themselves, mostly excited due to Thirteen’s appearance. 

 

“I can’t wait to show you what’s inside,” said Thirteen. Thirteen lead everyone into the building, which upon entering everyone could see a vast open area in the center and six themed areas along the outer rim. 

 

“Damn!” yelled Ryuji, who was impressed by the sheer size of the place.

 

“This is like an amusement park,” said Kirishima.

 

“A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, et cetera.,” said Thirteen. “I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with differing types of disasters. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint! But you can call it the USJ!”

 

“So, just like Universal Studios Japan,” said Ren, dryly. 

 

“Hey, shouldn’t All Might be here already?” asked Aizawa. “Let me guess, he booked an interview instead.”

 

“Actually, it’s something else,” replied Thirteen.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Apparently, he did too much hero work on the way to school this morning. He’s resting in the teacher’s lounge for now.” Thirteen lifted up three fingers as they said this.

 

“That man is the height of irresponsibility.” Aizawa turned to the class. “The clock’s ticking. We should get started.”

 

“Excellent! But before we begin, let me say one thing. Well, maybe two things. Possibly three, four, or five.”

 

“We get it,” said most of the class in unison.

 

“Listen carefully, I’m sure you’re aware that I have a powerful quirk; it’s called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust.”

 

“Yeah, you’ve used to save a lot of people in disasters,” said Midoriya.

 

“Correct, but my quirk could also be very easily used to kill. Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous. In our superhuman society, all quirks are certified and stringently regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can be. Please don’t forget that when you lose focus or make the wrong move, your power can be deadly. Even if you’re trying to do something virtuous, like trying to rescue someone. Thanks to Aizawa’s fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your quirk’s potential, and because of All Might’s combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against others. Carry those lessons over to this class. Today, you’re going to learn how to use your quirks to save people’s lives. You won’t be using your powers to attack enemies, or each other, only to help. After all, that’s what being a hero is all about: ensuring the safety of others. That’s all I have to say, thank you so much for listening.” A lot of the class applauded Thirteen’s speech, after all, it was very informative and truthful.

 

“Hmm,” began Morgana. “That’s a lot like when we're in the metaverse. We have to be careful not to kill the palace owner’s shadow or they’ll die in real life… in a rather bad way, I might add.” Ren nodded in agreement.

 

“Right, now that that’s over,” began Aizawa.

 

But before Aizawa could continue talking, a sudden surge of electricity surge through the lights at the top of the dome, causing them to turn off. Then, a dark purple votex appeared in front of the fountain in the central plaza, foggy in texture. Aizawa saw something in that vortex, and his demeanor immediately changed from his usual, tired self to a more serious, alert one. “Everyone! Stay together and don’t move!” The class was confused, what was happening. Ren using the third eye ability he has from Igor, he could see that people were coming out through the vortex, and he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Thirteen, protect the students!

 

“Whoa, what’s that?” asked Kirishima, as he saw the vortex, who now looked like it was taking a much more human like shape, as villains were coming of out of it. “Wait, has training started already? I thought we were rescuing people.”

 

Midoriya took a step forward to get a closer look but was stopped by Aizawa. “Stay back!”

 

“Ryuji, Mina,” whispers Ren. “This is bad.”

 

“How bad?” asked Ryuji.

 

Ren didn’t have to answer, as Aizawa spoke again. “This is real. Those are villains.”

 

“No way…” was all Mina managed to croak out. Chills ran up and down the spines of the students of Class 1-A. Even Ren and Ryuji were a bit nervous. They were used to palaces, but this could possibly be the first time they’d use their quirks on real villains.

 

The vortex turned into a man made of purple smoke and sharp, glowing yellow eyes, and began to speak. “The only real heroes I see are Thirteen and Eraserhead. Perplexing, according to the schedule we retrieved from UA, All Might should be here as well.”

 

“Schedule?” asked Ryuji to himself.

 

“How would they get one?” asked Mina too.

 

“Does that mean…” began Ren.

 

“So you scumbags used the press as a cover and sneaked on to campus,” said Aizawa.

 

There were multiple villains, tens of them, only in the plaza alone. Ren could sense that there were multiples scattered around the facility, in each of the zones.

 

“Where is he?” asked a villain, who wore a hand on his face. “I went through the trouble of bringing so many friends here, all eager to meet him. They want All Might, the great symbol of peace. I can’t believe he’s not here. Maybe if I kill a few kids, he’ll show up.”

 

“What? Real villains? No way,” said Kirishima. “How could so many of them get into a UA facility this secure?”

 

“Yeah, Thirteen?” began Yaoyorozu. “Why aren’t the alarms going off?”

 

“Good question. I’m not sure,” answered Thirteen.

 

“Shit,” cursed Ryuji. “This is bad.”

 

“Is the entire campus under attack, or is this the only target?” asked Todoroki. “Either way, if the alarm sensors aren’t being triggered, then one of these villains has a quirk that’s masking their presence here. They carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught. They’re fools for trying this, but they thought this out. Whatever they’re planning, they have a concrete objective in mind, but what is it?”

 

“Todoroki is pretty smart,” said Morgana. “He could be a valuable asset to us, whether in or out the metaverse. Try to make friends with him if we make it out of this okay.”

 

“I’ll try,” muttered Ren in response.

 

“Thirteen, get the students out of here, and alert the main campus,” said Aizawa. “... Actually, if they got the ability to block our sensors, then they might be able to jam our regular communications too. Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school.”

 

“Yes sir,” responded Kaminari, doing as he was told, but to no avail.

 

“What are you going to do?” asked Midoriya. “You can fight them on your own. There are too many, and your fighting style isn’t suited for this kind of situation. Your power works best in stealth and one on one fights, it’s not going to help with a group.”

 

“You can be a pro if you have only one trick,” responded Aizawa, sharply. “I’ll leave it to you, Thirteen.” 

 

Aizawa then jumped down the large staircase without saying another word to fight against the villains… and was doing surprisingly well from what Ren could tell. They couldn’t even lay a finger on him! And his use of his binding cloth was superb! Ren could only hope he could last long enough for backup to arrive if that ever happens at all.

 

As Aizawa was holding back the villains, the others were heading towards the front exit. However, was Aizawa in an off second between using his quirk, the vortex quirk villain managed to teleport himself from where he was to between the class and the exit. “There is no escape,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains. I know it’s impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello. And besides, isn’t this a fitting place for All Might, the symbol of peace, to take his last breath.”

 

“So that’s what the want,” said Morgana.

 

“I believe he was supposed to be here today, but I see no signs of him. There must have been some sort of change in plans that we could not have foreseen. Ah, well, in the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Thirteen got ready to attack the villain as he spoke. “I still have a role to play.”

 

However, before Thirteen could do anything, Bakugou and Kirishima tried to attack the villain. “Did you think we're just going to stand around and watch you tear this place to shreds?” asked Kirishima. However, the dust began to fade, and they noticed that they passed right through the villain, as if he had no physical body at all. 

 

“You live up to your school's reputation, children. However, you should be more careful, otherwise, somebody might get hurt.”

 

“You two, get out of the way right now!” called out Thirteen.

 

“I’ll scatter you across this facility, to meet my comrades.” The villain’s body expanded, like gas, and began to envelop the class. “And to your deaths!”

 

“Crap! What is this!?” yelled Kirishima.

 

“What the ‘eff is your problem man?!” called out Ryuji. The force of the villain was strong, like a powerful gust of wind. Ren could notice Iida move Sato and Uraraka out of the villains reach, and Shoji covering Mina and Sero. And suddenly, most of the class was separated.

 

Ryuji came too on the roof of a ruined building, nobody he knew was around him. And two villains waiting for him.

 

Ren found himself on a boat in a body of water. Turning around he could see a villain with a gun pointed straight for his head.

 

Morgana was in an inclosed city-like area, with simulated rainfall. He was alone and needed to find somebody quick.

 

And Mina was left at the front with a few other, right next to the same villain that had taken away her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go, the USJ Attack. Things are getting serious now. But, will the situation get better before it becomes worse. Only time will tell. 
> 
> By the way, next chapter, Ren will be taking a bit of a backseat compared to other characters, so be excited for that.


	17. USJ, Part 2

“God damn it,” said Ryuji, backing away from two villains. “Why don’t you too just take it is.”

 

“I thought you were training to become a hero, but you’re scared of two measly villains,” said one villain. He had long, claw-like fingernails.

 

“At least you’ll be an easy kill,” said the other, whose tongue was so long that it hung out of his mouth.

 

“Hey! Don’t underestimate me!” yelled Ryuji. “Just right now ain’t the best time for fighting.” Ryuji reached the edge of the rooftop, with the two villains still approaching. He needed to think of a plan, and fast.

 

Ryuji began to charge his fist. “If you don’t want to find, that’s fine with us,” said the clawed villain. “Just makes it easier on us.” At this point, the two villains had nearly corned Ryuji.

 

“Wait!” called out Ryuji, trying and succeeding to distract the villains. In that second, Ryuji hit the clawed villain with an uppercut, straight to the jaw. Then Ryuji shoved the villain aside, to get on the other side of the two. ‘I prolly can’t rely on just brute strength in a situation like this… But my leg is just fine. With that, and my quirk, I might be able to win this,’ thought Ryuji.

 

Just then, the tongue villain’s tongue extended out of his mouth and lashed at Ryuji like a whip, but Ryuji managed to jump out of the way. While Ryuji was distracted by the tongue villain, the clawed villain slashed at him, slightly cutting Ryuji at his side.

 

Ryuji gave the clawed villain an electrified punch to the side, then jumped up and kicked him in the head. “Holy shit, sometimes I impress myself! This world is awesome!”

 

“Shut up already!” yelled the clawed villain as he punched Ryuji in the gut.

 

“Ah jeez…” groaned Ryuji. “You’re pretty strong. But I’ve been hit with worse!” But as he was saying, Ryuji’s leg was grabbed by the tongue of the other villain. The other villain lifted Ryuji up, dangling him by the leg.

 

“You’re stronger than you initially let on,” said the other villain. “But, you won’t survive a drop of this roof, now would you?” But before the villain could even get Ryuji into position, Ryuji lifted himself up and grabbed the villains tongue, electrifying it. “Gah!” shrieked the villain as he let go of Ryuji.

 

As Ryuji got up, he noticed the clawed villain charging at him. Thinking quickly, Ryuji grabbed onto to the tongue of the other villain and used it to yank the other villain into position, using as a shield to block the clawed villain’s attacks.

 

‘I can’t keep this up forever,’ thought Ryuji. ‘I gotta get out of this, fast.’ Then Ryuji noticed a very cracked spot at the center of the roof. Maybe if he could break that point. 

 

Ryuji dashed the other side of the roof, and jokingly beckoned the clawed villain to come out. In response, the clawed villain charged at Ryuji. As the villain ran over the cracked section of the roof, Ryuji ran towards the villain as well. He jumped into the air and kicked the villain in the chest with both of his feet, knocking the villain over.

 

The villain quickly fell onto his back, straight onto the cracked rooftop. The force was just enough to cause the roof to break apart. The clawed villain fell through onto the next floor. “I’ll deal with him later. First, you’re going down,” said Ryuji, referring to the other villain.

 

“I’d like to see you try!” yelled the other villain, clearly angered. The villain sent a flurry of strikes from his tongue at Ryuji. His tongue was moving so fast that Ryuji could barely see it. “Now that I don’t have to worry about hitting my comrade I can go all out!”

 

“Well, then that means I have to go all out too!” Ryuji began to increase his electrical output. The charges began to rise up from his hands and into his arms. “Hope Aizawa doesn’t kill me for this.” Ryuji ripped the sleeves off of his athletic uniform, exposing his electrified arms.

 

When the villain’s tongue hit Ryuji’s arms, it received a shock. “What the!” yelled the villain. Ryuji ran towards the villain, using his arms to deflect the villain’s tongue. Once Ryuji got close enough, he grabbed the villain’s tongue and pulled the villain close. Ryuji lifted up his opposite elbow, slamming it into villain’s face and subsequently knocking the villain unconscious. 

 

With that villain out of the way, Ryuji focused his attention on the clawed villain. He leaped down the hole in the roof to the floor below. Ryuji saw the clawed villain just now starting to get up. The villain was injured and enraged. “You’re a little bastard, aren’t you?” said the clawed villain.

 

“You could say that,” responded Ryuji, grinning.

 

“Then I’m going to enjoy killing you!”

 

“Well, the thing about that is, I’m getting kinda tired here, so I’m going to just wrap this up fast. Plus, since it’s just you an’ me now, I can use my trump card.” Then, a skull-shaped masked formed onto Ryuji’s face. “Whip ‘em, Persona!” The mask on Ryuji’s face then dissolved, and Seiten Taisei formed behind a smirking Ryuji.

 

“What the hell is that?!” yelled the clawed villain.

 

Seiten Taisei spun around his pole and then slammed it into the side of the clawed villain, knocking him over. “And stay down!” yelled Ryuji, kicking the villain in the head. The villain was knocked-out, and Seiten Taisei dispersed.

 

Ryuji finally started to feel the fatigue from battle. Ryuji placed his hand on his side and winced; he was bleeding from where the villain had cut him. “I gotta get down. Maybe somebody else is down there.”

 

Ryuji made his way down the building, where he eventually came across two familiar faces: Kirishima and Bakugou.

 

“Hey, Sakamoto!” called out Kirishima. “Glad to see you’re okay!”

 

“Yeah, same for you guys.”

 

“Wait, Sakamoto. You’re bleeding. What happened?”

 

“I just had to fight two tough villains, but I handled them. No big deal.”

 

“As long as you don’t get in my way,” said Bakugou.

 

“C’mon Bakugou,” began Kirishima. “Let’s make our way back to the front. Maybe things are under control now.”

 

But just then, the three were approached by a very large villain, ready to fight.

 

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to go just yet,” said Ryuji, preparing himself for yet another fight.

 

* * *

 

“I hate the rain,” mumbled Morgana. He was walking around, searching for anybody he recognized.  Then, Morgana saw a group of villains. “Well, I have to do something. Wait… If we can summon our personas even here, then maybe I could… ” 

 

Morgana concentrated hard, and then he transformed into his bipedal form. “Mwehehe, now this is much better. Nobody will believe them too. ” Morgana run up to the group and pounced on one of the villains, scratching at his face. At the same time, Morgana summoned Mercurious, to attack the other villains. They were overwhelmed, the persona was too strong.

 

Then, Morgana could hear another person coming, but his voice was familiar. Morgana turned back into his cat form and made Mercurious disappear. Soon, Morgana saw Tokoyami and Koda from Ren and Ryuji’s class, but the two seemed surprised to see Morgana.

 

“Did… Did this cat take out those villains?” asked Tokoyami, staring at Morgana.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our boy Ryuji fights hard, but his work isn't done just yet. And Morgana at least won't have to go it alone.
> 
> Next chapter will include some Ren and Mina, so stay tuned.


	18. USJ, Part 3

Morgana mewed at the two heroes in training. ‘Of course, there would be somebody who would be able to recognize me,’ thought Morgana.

 

“Koda, do you think you can get him to show us the exit?” asked Tokoyami.

 

Koda nodded and walked up to Morgana. He then knelt down to get closer to Morgana. “Hey, please show us how to get out of here,” said Koda.

 

Morgana mewed in confusion, not knowing how to get out the area himself. Morgana thought that this would get rid of the two’s suspicions, but to Morgana’s surprise, this only confused the two even more.

 

“How did it not work?” asked Tokoyami. “Does this cat have some quirk nullification powers like Aizawa? Wait… could he be with the villains?” After Tokoyami said this, Koda shook his head in disagreement. “Right, he took down those other villains, so he couldn’t possibly be with them. But… how did your quirk not work on him?”

  
  


“Stay right there!” yelled the villain, gun still pointed at Ren. “And put your hands up too! I don’t want to see you playing hero!”

 

Ren complied, putting his hands up. But at the same time, Ren used his quirk to slowly send out a tendril from behind him. The tendril wrapped around the ship until it was behind the villain.

 

“So why are you doing this?” asked Ren, readying himself.

 

“Why should I tell you?” asked the villain.

 

“Because I can’t do anything,” responded Ren. “You’d just shot me if I did, right?”

 

“Yeah, I would.” Ren noticed that the villain let his guard down a little bit, getting cocky. At that moment, Ren sharpened the tendril and attacked.

 

The tendril was so sharp, it cut the barrel off of the villain’s gun. Of course, the villain was caught off guard, so Ren took advantage of this and closed the gap between them. Once close enough, Ren hit the villain with multiple jabs. Eventually, with a hit to the head, the villain was knocked out. Ren then made sure the villain wouldn’t get back up by tieing him up with a rope he found on the boat.

 

After that, Ren looked off the side of the boat. “Now, how am I supposed to get all the way over there?” wondered Ren to himself.

 

Then, Midoriya and Mineta were suddenly placed onto the boat by Tsuyu, with her climbing up the side. “You saved my life Asui,” said Midoriya.

 

“I told you to call me Tsu,” responded Tsuyu.

 

“Hey, good to see you’re alive,” said Ren.

 

“Yeah, this is turning out to be a terrible day of class,” said Tsuyu.

 

“I keep thinking about what that villain said,” began Midoriya. “They knew our whole schedule and who would be here. They must’ve gotten the school files when we were stuck in the cafeteria. The teachers were all busy trying to get the media off of school grounds. That means they’ve been waiting for the perfect time to attack, just like Todoroki said.”

 

“Hey, hey, wait for a second,” began Mineta. “It’s not like these guys can kill All Might. Once he shows up he’ll pound these villains until there is nothing left.”

 

“Think about it though,” said Tsuyu. “If the villains spent so much time planning the attack, they probably found out a way to kill All Might. And did you hear what that smoke guy said? We should probably be worried about not getting tortured to death.”

 

“Yeah,” agreed Ren. “They can still kill us. We have to be careful. There was a villain on this boat waiting for me. If I didn’t think my actions through, I could’ve died.”

 

Suddenly, the four of them could see multiple villains begin to swim towards the boat they stood on.

 

“They’re coming!” yelled Mineta in a panic.

 

“If they can’t beat him,” said Midoriya, “then we have to stop whatever these bad guys are planning. We have to work together and keep All Might safe. No one at UA knows what’s happening. This is up to us! Let’s be heroes!”

 

“Agreed,” said Ren.

 

“What do you mean fight?! Are you crazy?!” asked Mineta. “These guys are here to kill All Might, and you think we can take them?! Did you hit your head when you got warped here?! Our best plan would be for a pro to come here and save us!”

 

“And how long do you think that would take?” asked Ren.

 

“Besides, think about it. They clearly have an advantage in the water and assume that’s where we’re going to fight.”

  
  


“Are you even listening?!” yelled Mineta.

 

“If that’s the case, they must have known what’s inside the USJ before they warped in,” said Tsuyu. 

 

“Yeah,” agreed Ren.

 

“But for a group with such careful planning, there is one thing that really sticks out too me. They sent you here Asui- I mean, Tsu,” said Midoriya. “They sent you to the shipwreck section.”

 

“That kinda fell apart on you, didn’t it,” said Tsuyu.

 

“Yeah…”

 

“But why does it matter that she was sent here?!” yelled Mineta. 

 

“Oh, I see,” said Ren. “The villains probably have no idea what our quirks are.”

 

“Yeah,” said Midoriya. 

 

“You got a point,” agreed Tsuyu. “If they knew what my quirk was, they would’ve sent me to that fire zone over there, instead of here, where it’s full of water.”

 

“They probably separated because they didn’t know what we could do, and planned to overpower us once we’re in smaller groups,” reasoned Midoriya.

 

“Which is where they went wrong, underestimating us,” said Ren, smirking. 

 

“Exactly. Their initial underestimation of us means that those here don’t know what our powers are, and we could be super powerful for all they know,” said Midoriya. “None of them are trying to climb onto the boat, which proves that what I’m saying. However, now they’re not. They going to play it smart.”

 

“So let’s talk quirks,” said Tsuyu. Tsuyu explained her quirk first, saying that she can do whatever a frog can. This was followed by Midoriya explaining his super strength. Then Ren explained his quirk. Finally, Mineta talked about his quirk, about how his ‘hair’ is actually a bunch of sticky balls that he can take off and throw.

 

“Oh god, my quirk is totally unfit for battle!” began Mineta. “This is why I said we should wait for the pros to come! We’re all gonna die!”

 

“Woah, Woah, your quirk is an incredible power! Really!” said Midoriya.

 

“Yeah,” agreed Ren. “We can probably use it to get out of here.”

 

Suddenly, a villain used his quirk to cut the boat in half, causing it to start sinking. 

 

“Well, we should make a plan right now,” said Ren.

 

Panicking, Mineta began to throw multiple sticky balls into the water. “Mineta, don’t freak out!” called out Midoriya. ”You gotta calm down, they’ll guess your quirk.” Midoriya then looked over the edge, only to see the villains being very cautious around the balls.

 

“So Mineta, are you sure that this hero thing is for you?” asked Tsuyu.

 

“Oh shut up! Isn’t it more normal to be scared right now?! I didn’t know that I’d be facing death this close to starting school!” yelled Mineta.

 

“Look, an enemy certain of their victory is bound to make a mistake,” said Midoriya. “All Might said something along those lines in an interview a while back. Now’s our chance, we can beat them!” 

 

Then, Midoriya jumped off the boat, headed for the water. Meanwhile, back on the boat, Ren, Tsuyu, and Mineta grabbed onto each over, which Ren ready to use his quirk to catapult them into the air. “Are you guys ready?” asked Tsuyu.

 

“Mhm,” responded Ren. 

 

“Take this! Delaware smash!”, yelled Midoriya, just as he was about to enter the water. Midoriya then flicked, propelling himself back up, and creating a whirlpool in the water, sucking up the villains. “Now!”

 

With Midoriya’s signal, Ren used his quirk to fling himself, Tsuyu, and Mineta into the air. Then, Tsuyu grabbed Midoriya with her tongue. Finally, Mineta threw as many sticky balls into the water as he could.

 

“If a strong force is applied to water’s surface, the water will be pushed away and then come rushing back to the middle!” yelled Midoriya, as that same process happened right below them. The villains were caught in this and became stuck to each other thanks to Mineta’s balls. 

 

“We rounded them all up,” said Tsuyu. “Not too shabby. You three are all pretty amazing.”

 

“I guess we passed the shipwreck zone,” said Ren.

 

Soon enough, they landed in the water, not far from the edge. Close enough to where they can get back up and presumably get out of there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this two weeks late. Been hit with writer's block and just general unmotivation. But I'm back now, and ready to keep on writing.


	19. USJ, Part 4

“Shoji, got them? Anything? Where is everyone?” asked Iida. Shoji, using his quirk, had been essentially scanning the entire building.

 

“They’ve been scattered across the facility, but they’re still alive,” replied Shoji. The others sighed with relief, a weight being taken off their shoulder. 

 

“So what do we do?” began Sero. “The guy’s not affected by physical attacks, and he can teleport stuff.”

 

“Class rep,” began Thirteen.

 

“Yes?” responded Iida.

 

“I have a job for you. Run to the school and tell the faculty what’s going on here. Our alarms aren’t sounding, and our phones and radios are useless here. One of the villains must be to blame. Even though Eraserhead is canceling quirks left and right, we’re still completely cut off from the outside world. Likely whoever caused this hid once they were warped in. It is practically impossible to hunt them down in the situation we’re in. It would be faster for you to run.”

 

“Yes, but it would be disgraceful for me to leave you all behind!” said Iida.

 

“Go ‘Emergency Exit’. There are lots of alarms outside. That’s why they’re keeping us in, right?” said Sato

 

“As long as you can get outside, they won’t follow,” said Sero. “Blow that stupid mist away with those engine legs.”

 

“Use your quirk to save others,” said Thirteen. “Be a real hero.”

 

“I can help you out,” said Uraraka. “Just like when I floated you in the cafeteria.”

 

“Yeah!” exclaimed Mina. “Do it, Iida. We all got your back.”

 

“Even if this is your only option, are you really foolish enough to strategize in from of your enemy!” yelled the fog-like villain as he went to attack, only for Thirteen to begin sucking him up with their quirk.

 

“That won’t matter once I’m done with you!” called out Thirteen. “Blackhole!”

 

“Ah, Blackhole. The quirk that sucks up matter and turns it into dust” said the villain, sounding oddly calm. “Such an astounding power. However, you’re a rescue hero, Thirteen. Skilled at saving people from disasters. Consequently, that means you have little fighting experience and battlefield awareness.” Just then, the villain created a portal in his chest and another one behind Thirteen.

 

“He opened a warp gate,” said Thirteen, becoming distressed. Due to the actions of the villain, Thirteen began to suck up their own body.

 

“How unfortunate. You’ve turned yourself into dust.”

 

Luckily, Thirteen was able to stop their quirk, but the damage had been done. “I’m sorry. He got me.” Thirteen then fell to the ground.

 

“Thirteen!” called out Mina.

 

“Iida, you gotta get out of here,” said Sato. “Go now!”

 

Iida, taking a chance, used his quirk and began to run as fast as he could towards the front door.

 

“A sheep trying to escape from the wolves? I simply cannot allow that,” said the villain. The villain opened a gate in front of Iida. “If other heroes arrive, it will be harder for us to put an end to All Might.”

 

Luckily, Shoji managed to engulf the portal, allowing Iida to continue running. “Run!” yelled Shoji. “I got him!”

 

“You impertinent child!” The villain began to head towards Iida, however, Uraraka managed to spot a piece of clothing, which means the villain does have a solid body. “You won’t set foot outside those doors! I have no time for this!  **Begone!** ” The villain began to engulf Iida, in hopes of teleporting him away.

 

Seizing the opportunity, Uraraka used her quirk on the villain’s clothes, causing him to float upwards, separating him from Iida. “I don’t know what his quirk is, but he’s wearing some weird kind of armor, so he must have a physical body in there, somewhere,” said Uraraka. “Run Iida!

 

“You pest! How dare you!” yelled the villain. Iida made it to the door and began to pry it open. However, the villain began to slowly move its way towards Iida. “I got you!”

 

“Not so fast,” said Sero, using his quirk to stick tape to the villain’s armor, with Sato then grabbing the tape and pulling the villain away from Iida, and throw him away from the group.

 

With those openings, Iida managed to escape the building and make his way towards the school.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Sakamoto! Step back,” said Kirishima. “You’re already injured. While it ain’t that manly, you shouldn’t be pushing yourself so hard.”

 

“I’m not critical,” said Ryuji, stepping forward. “Besides, I’ve been through worse and kept on going, so this is nothing.” Ryuji gave Kirishima a grin.

 

“Can you stop talking and fight the damn guy!” yelled Bakugou, watching the villain closely. Then, the villain threw a punch towards Bakugou, who in return used his quirk to propel himself upwards, dodging the attack. Bakugou then caused an explosion to happen right in the villain’s face. “Heh! That got him!”

 

However, in reality, the villain wasn’t affected much by Bakugou’s attack. The villain grabbed Bakugou by his leg and threw him a good distance. “This should be easy,” said the villain. “These two should be just as strong as the other one.” The villain cracked his knuckles, then ran towards Ryuji and Kirishima.

 

The villain went to punch Kirishima, but Kirishima managed to block it using his forearms. “Huh? How did you?” asked the villain, confused about how Kirishima was able to stop his attack. Within this window, Kirishima took his chance and sent a flurry of punches at the villain. While he was able to cause a few cuts, Kirishima could tell he wasn’t doing any serious damage.

 

“Oh, I get it now,” said the villain. “It’s your quirk.” The villain then grabbed one of Kirishima’s fists, stopping him from continuing his assault. The villain then headbutted Kirishima and kicked him away. “Well, I got a little secret for you kid. You’re not gonna be able to beat me. My quirk basically makes me invulnerable!” 

 

“Is that so, huh!?” yelled Bakugou, coming from behind the villain.  “Let’s see how invulnerable you really are!” As the villain turned around to counterattack, Bakugou used his quirk to change his trajectory mid-air, bouncing over the villain’s head. After he was behind the villain, Bakugou used his quirk once again to push himself quickly into the villain, lodging a piece of broken metal that Bakugou had picked up from the debris into the villain’s back, making an audible clank like noise. 

 

“Arg! You little shit! You’ll pay for that!” yelled the villain, proceeding to tear out the piece of metal kick Bakugou in the gut.

 

“Sakamoto,” said Kirishima, rubbing his head. “When I was hitting that guy, it felt hard. Like harder than usual. What the hell is up with this guy?”

 

“I think I have an idea,” said Ryuji. “Hey, tough guy! I know your quirk, you’re made of metal, right?! Or at least part of you is.”

 

“You got me,” said the villain, grinning. “My quirk coats my skeleton in steel, so there isn’t a chance in hell you’ll be able to break me!”

 

“Perfect. Kirishima, I have a plan. All you have to do is buy me some time, and by that, I mean to break his face.”

 

“But Sakamoto,” began Kirishima, “he just said he’s coated in steel, how am I supposed to hurt him?”

 

“Trust me on this. It’ll hurt him.”

 

Kirishima turned his attention to the villain, to see Bakugou attacking him again. Seizing the opportunity, Kirishima charged in and hit the villain with a hardened right hook, straight into the bridge of his nose. Kirishima could see that the villain’s nose was now crooked. “How the hell did yo-” began the villain, only to be cut off by Kirishima punching him again, and again.

 

Eventually, the villain was able to push Kirishima off himself. His face was bloody and broken. “How were you able to break my face like that?! I don’t understand!”

 

“It’s simple,” said Ryuji. “Steel is five times weaker than bone. Breaking through the layer on your skull is easy. Plus a lot of bones on the face are weak already. But, there is one more big weakness that comes with your quirk”

 

“Wait!” yelled the villain.

 

Ryuji, ignoring the villain, began to charge at him, holding another piece of metal. “The human body is already conductive, but you're partly made of steel. And I can smell the iron in your blood from here.” Then, as Ryuji was close enough, he shoved the metal piece into the villain's leg, hearing a clank as it hit his bone. “You’re practically a walking superconductor.”

 

“No!” called out the villain, knowing what was going to happen already.

 

“I know this is a bit brutal, but this is the only way I know you’ll go down,” said Ryuji as he finally electrified the piece of metal. The electricity coursed through the metal all throughout the villain’s body, and within seconds the villain fell to the ground, unconscious.

 

“Damn, Sakamoto. You sure he’s gonna be alright?” asked Kirishima.

 

“He’ll need to get his jaw wired, but he’ll live.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again. Sorry for the wait, but I'm moving updates from every Sunday to every other Sunday to make it easier for me.
> 
> And we're nearing the end of the USJ arc, only one more chapter, and we'll be headed back towards the good ol' Bakugou Palace.


	20. USJ, Part 5

“I had a good poop this morning, which makes my balls stickier,” said Mineta with a chuckle. “They’re not going anywhere.”

 

Ren, Midoriya, Tsu, and Mineta were walking closer and closer towards the shoreline, hoping that things are safer now. “I can’t believe we took them out in one shot,” mumbled Midoriya. “It took me everything I had to keep my composure.”

 

“Calm down man,” said Ren.

 

“Yeah you’re creeping me out,” said Tsu. “Stop it. Please. Instead of second-guessing what we did, shouldn’t we think about our next move?”

 

“Yeah,” agreed Midoriya, with Ren also nodding agreement. “You’re totally right.” Just then, Midoriya touched his fingers and winced in pain.

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah, fine. Don’t worry about me, getting help should be our top priority.” Midoriya then pointed towards the front entrance. “If we follow the shoreline towards the exit, then we can avoid the central plaza entirely.”

 

“Good idea. We won’t run into any villains that way,” said Tsuyu.

 

“That’s true, but…” began Ren. “But what if Aizawa is in trouble?”

 

“Yeah, if he doesn’t get back up he’ll just overexert himself,” reasoned Midoriya. “He’ll end up defeated by those villains because he wanted us safe.”

 

“Don’t tell me you’re suggesting what I think you are,” said Mineta.

 

“I think he is,” said Ren, with a cocky grin.

 

“Are you guys trying to get us killed or something?!”

 

“I’m not saying we should jump into the middle of a battle,” began Midoriya. “But maybe we can find a way to take a few of those guys out and lighten his load.”

 

Eventually, they decided to make their way to the shore and check to see how things were going. They could see Aizawa still fighting villains, and winning. However, eventually, Aizawa began to fight what seemed to be the leader of the villains.

 

From there, things turned south. The villain used his quirk to essentially destroy Aizawa’s elbow, disintegrating it all the way down to the muscle. And then Aizawa was swiftly taken down by another villain, which was very muscular and tall, with a bird-like head and it’s brain exposed. It broke Aizawa’s bones as if they were twigs.

 

“Oh shit,” said Ren.

 

“No… Mr. Aizawa…” said Midoriya.

 

“I can’t watch this anymore,” said Mineta.

 

Suddenly, the fog like villain appeared next to the leader and the two began to converse. Listening into their conversation, the four could hear the leader say “Let’s go home.”

 

“Did I just hear that right?” asked Mineta. “This is amazing. We’re safe and we don’t have to fight.”

 

“I guess we lucked out,” said Ren.

 

“Though, I got a bad feeling about this,” said Tsu.

 

“Yeah, it would be weird for them to retreat now, even if heroes are coming,” reasoned Midoriya.

 

“Oh, but before we go,” said the leader. “Let’s wreck the symbol of peace’s pride!” The leader turned around and stared at the student, showing that he knew they were there the entire time. He lunged at them, reaching for Tsu’s face, aimed to use his quirk on her. However, once he reached her, nothing happened. “Heh… You really are something, aren’t you?” Even though Aizawa had be broken and beaten, he still was able to use his quirk to protect Tsu. The brain villain then slammed Aizawa head into the ground

 

At that moment, Midoriya attempted to punch the leader. However, the brain villain managed to get between Midoriya and the leader, taking the punch and sustaining no damage. “You’re pretty powerful,” said the leader. “This smash of your’s… Are you one of All Might’s disciples?”

 

“Damn you,” said Ren.

 

“Heh… It doesn’t matter. I’m done with you now.” The brain villain then grabbed onto Midoriya and get ready to attack, while the leader began reaching for Mineta. 

 

Just before the villains hurt Midoriya and Mineta, the front doors burst open, distracting the villains. And the person who kicked that door in was none other than All Might.

 

“We’re saved!” cried out Mineta.

 

“Phew,” let out Ren, in a sigh of relief.

 

“He’s here… All Might…” said Midoriya.

 

‘Now that I think about it,’ Ren thought to himself. ‘I’ve never actually seen All Might in action before, at least in person… This should be good.’

 

“After all this waiting,” said the leader. “The heroic piece of trash shows up.” 

 

All Might ran and attacked so fast, that the villains couldn’t even see him go from the entrance to the place. All Might dispatched of the lower level thugs with ease. He picked up the now unconscious Aizawa. “I’m sorry Aizawa. I should have been here,” said All Might. And then in a flash, All Might picked up Midoriya, Ren, Tsu, and Mineta and got them away from the villains, as well as hitting the leader, knocking his mask off. “Everybody back to the entrance, and take Aizawa with you. He doesn’t have much time.” 

 

“Y-Yes sir!” stuttered Mineta.

 

“You saved us All Might,” said Midoriya.

 

“Yeah, but we should get going,” said Ren. “At least for the time being.”

 

“No, no, no! This shouldn’t be happening,” began the leader. “He’s still fast, father. Somehow he managed to hit me.” The leader knelt down to grab his mask off the ground, and then put it back on. “Of course a government hero relies on violence. I wasn’t prepared. I couldn’t even see him when he moved. But he’s not as fast as I thought he would be… Not as fast as he used to be. I guess it’s true after all. All Might really is getting weaker.”

 

“All Might, you can’t,” began Midoriya. “That brain villain took One Fo-... I smashed him and I didn’t break my arm this time, but he didn’t take any damage at all. He’s too strong!”

 

“Young Midoriya… I got this!” said All Might with a smile. With that, the four students began to make their way back with the unconscious Aizawa, with Ren paying close attention to what was happening with All Might and the villains.

 

As All Might began to charge towards the leader to attack. The leader said only one word. “Noumu.” Suddenly, the brain villain, seemingly named Noumu, dashed in between the leader and All Might, taking All Might’s attack and suffering no damage. No matter how many times All Might attack Noumu, he inflicted almost no injuries.

 

“Doesn’t matter why I punch you, does it?”

 

“That’s because Noumu here has shock absorption, All Might. The only way you’re going to hurt him is to slowly gauge out his flesh… though I don’t think he’ll sit back and let you do that. You’ve finally met your match.”

 

“Thanks for telling me how to beat him!” All Might got behind Noumu and grabbed it by its waist. “All I have to do is wear him down, then it’s on to you!”. All Might, in attempts to defeat the Noumu, performed a German suplex.

 

“Are you guys seeing this?” asked Mineta. “That suplex looked like a huge explosion. All Might is on a whole ‘nother level!”

 

“And yet he still has to look at his notes while teaching us,” remarked Tsu.

 

However, All Might was able to incapacitate Noumu, due to the mist villain creating two portals. One where Noumu was put into the ground, and one below All Mights back, letting Noumu attack All Might. “Oh come on, what kind of cheap move is that?” said All Might.

 

“Nice, you were planning on trying to bury him in the concrete so he couldn’t move around anymore. Sorry, that won’t work. Noumu is as strong as you are. That won’t stop him,” said the leader. “Nice work, Kurogiri. We’ve got him just where we want him now.”

 

“If this is your best, you’ve chosen the wrong place to attack! You should just give up now!”

 

“Normally, I wouldn’t want blood and viscera flooding into my warp gates,” said Kurogiri. “But I’ll make an exception for a hero as great as you. Since you’re too fast to see with the human eye, Noumu has to restrain you. And once he’s pulled your body halfway through, I’ll squeeze the gate shut. I’m going to enjoy tearing you to pieces.”

 

“Asui…” spoke Midoriya.

 

“Yeah, what is it Midoriya?” responded Tsu.

 

“Will you carry Mr. Aizawa for me?”

 

“Ribbit. Sure, but what are you gonna do?” Tsu took Aizawa, but Midoriya didn’t answer, he only ran back for All Might.

 

“Are you crazy?!” yelled Mineta.

 

“I’ll go too,” said Ren. “Make sure he stays safe.” Ren then chased after Midoriya.

 

“I’m coming!” called out Midoriya, as he ran towards All Might and the villains. Midoriya leaped for All Might, but Kurogiri appeared in front of him and began to open a portal. But before Midoriya could be sent away, Kurogiri was blasted by Bakugou.

 

“Get the hell out of my way, Deku!” yelled Bakugou. Bakugou then grabbed onto Kurogiri’s armor and used it to slam Kurogiri to the ground, forcing him in place.

 

Then, ice traveled across the ground and froze Noumu’s left arm and leg. “One of your poorly trained thugs told me you’re here because you think you can kill All Might,” said Todoroki, bluntly. All Might used his advantage to free himself from Noumu’s grip.

 

“Are you okay?” asked Midoriya, to All Might. However, before All Might could answer, Kirishima leaped in and tried to attack the leader, but he dodged. 

 

“C’mon Kirishima, he saw that from a mile away,” said Ryuji.

 

“Since when were you one for subtlety?” asked Ren.

 

“Oh, can it!”

 

“Looks like I found your body now, smokey,” said Bakugou smugly. 

 

“The symbol of peace will not be defeated by delinquents like you,” said Todoroki.

 

“Kurogiri, how could you let this brat get the best of you?” asked the leader. “You’ve gotten us into a real jam here.”

 

“You got careless, you dumb villain,” said Bakugou. “It wasn’t hard to figure you out. Only some parts of you turn into those misty warp gates, so you use those to hide your real body as some kind of distraction, thinking that it made you safe. That’s why we missed. But if you didn’t have a body you wouldn’t be wearing this neck armor, right? You’re not immune to physical attacks if they’re well aimed.” Bakugou let off some explosions from the palm of his hand holding down Kurogiri. “Don’t move. You try and act funny and I’ll blow your ass up right now.”

 

“Oh that doesn’t sound very heroic,” said Kirishima mockingly.

 

“I know, right,” added Ryuji, grinning. 

 

“They escaped uninjured and captured my two strongest men,” began the leader. “Kids these days truly are amazing. They make the League of Villains look like amateurs. Can’t have that. Noumu.”

 

Noumu began to move even though it was partly frozen. It managed to escape Kurogiri’s warp gates before its frozen arm and leg fell off and crumbled, however, it still kept going.

 

“How is that thing moving?” asked Ren.

 

“This is crazy,” began Ryuji. “How can somebody beat something that resilient?”

 

“Stay back everybody!” called out All Might. Suddenly, Noumu began to grow back it’s missing limbs. “What is this? I thought you said his power was shock absorption.”

 

“I didn’t say that was his  _ only  _ quirk. He has super regeneration too. Noumu has been modified to take you on at even 100 percent of your power,” said the leader. “He’s like a highly efficient punching bag that hits back. First, we need to free our method of escape. Get him Noumu.”

 

Noumu dashed towards Bakugou, however, All Might managed to take the blow instead, saving Bakugou. The strength of Noumu’s attack, however, had enough force to cause winds that pushed back everybody else.

 

“Bakugou, you’re okay?” said Ryuji in confusion.

 

“No way you could’ve dodged a punch like that,” said Ren. “So that means…”

 

“All Might!” called out Midoriya.

 

“These are kids and you didn’t hold back,” said All Might.

 

“I didn’t have much choice,” replied the leader. “He was holding my companion hostage. Besides, these kids are no angels. The plain looking one tried to kill me with a maxed out punch. What kind of hero does something like that? You think you can get away being as violent as you want if you say it’s for the sake of others. Well, you know what All Might? That pisses me off. Why do people get to decide if some acts of violence are heroic while others are villainous? Casting judgment as to what’s good and what’s evil. You think you’re the symbol of peace. Heh, you’re just another government-sponsored instrument of violence. And violence always breeds more violence. I’ll make sure the world understands that once you’re dead.”

 

“You’re nothing but a lunatic. Criminals like you always try to make their actions sound noble but admit it, you’re only doing this because you like it! Isn’t that right?!”

 

“ He’s got me figured out.”

 

“We’ve got them outnumbered,” said Todoroki.

 

“And Kachan found the mist guy’s weakness,” said Midoriya.

 

“They act tough, but we can take ‘em down with All Might’s help,” said Kirishima.

 

“Let’s just get this done with quickly,” said Ryuji. “I don’t wanna have this cut longer than necessary.”

 

“Don’t attack,” said All Might. “Get out of here.”

 

“Without us, you would still be in trouble,” said Ren. “You need our help.”

 

“I thank you for your assistance, but this is different. It’s going to be alright. Just sit back and watch a pro at work.”

 

“But you’re too hurt and bleeding, and you’re almost out of ti-” said Midoriya, cutting himself off without giving out too much information, however, Ren had noticed these. All Might didn’t verbally respond, but he gave Midoriya a thumbs-up to reassure him.

 

“Noumu, Kurou,” began the leader. “Kill him. I’ll deal with the children. Let’s clear this level and go home.”  The leader then began to run towards the students. All Might lunged at him, attempting to attack but Noumu countered, punching All Might’s fist, sending ripples through Noumu’s arm, and a burst of arm pushing everybody else back.  “Weren’t you listening! I said one of his powers was shock absorption!”

 

“Yeah, what about it?” began All Might. All Might and Noumu kept punching each other’s fists. Blow for blow, they were at equilibrium. 

 

“He’s gonna fight that brain guy head on?” asked Ryuji?

 

“Woah, they’re so fast!” said Kirishima.

 

“No! I can’t get near them!” said Kurogiri, being pushed back by the winds.

 

“You said his quirk was shock absorption, not nullification,” began All Might. “That means there’s a limit to what he can take.” Through all the fighting, All Might was beginning to push Noumu back, and start overpowering him “So you were made to fight me, big guy? If you can really withstand me firing off at 100 percent of my power, then I’ll have to go beyond that and force you to surrender!” Finally, with a strong punch, All Might knocked Noumu far back. “A real hero will always find a way for justice to be served!” All Might then lifted Noumu up into the air and threw him into the ground. As Noumu bounced from the ground, All Might landed. “Now for a lesson. You may have heard this words before, but I teach you what they really mean…  Go beyond…”

 

“ **_PLUS ULTRAAA!_ ** ” 

 

With a single punch to the stomach, using a vast amount of his strength, All Might sent Noumu flying, causing him to crash into the outer wall of the building and break out. Going far, far away from the rest of the villains.

 

“That was like a finishing move in a video game,” said Kirishima, in awe. “He beat the shock absorption right out of him! I’ve seen that kind of brute strength.”

 

“Imagine having power like that,” mused Bakugou to himself. “He must have been punching that monster so fast he couldn’t regenerate.”

 

“I really have gotten weaker,” said All Might. “Back in my heyday, 5 hits would have been enough to knock that guy out, but today it took more than 300 mighty blows.

 

Ren felt something. Maybe it was awe of All Might determination and valor, or maybe it was some form of admiration. But he felt something.

 

_ I am thou, thou art I…  _

_ Thou hast acquired a new vow. _

 

_ It shall become the wings of rebellion _

_ That breaketh thy chains of captivity. _

 

_ With the birth of the Star Persona _

_ I have obtained the winds of blessing that _

_ Shall lead to freedom and new power… _

 

All Might turned to face the leader. “You’ve been bested, villains. Surrender, we all want to get this over with quickly.”

 

“... He cheated,” croaked out the leader, clearly frustrated.

 

“What’s wrong? Not attacking me? Didn’t you say you were going to clear this level earlier? Well come and get me, if you dare.” The leader was obviously frightened by All Might’s words.

 

“Man this is crazy,” said Ryuji.

 

“As I expected,” said Todoroki. “There’s no reason for us to fight now, he’ll handle this.”

 

“C’mon Midoriya, we should regroup with the other guys,” said Kirishima. “We don’t wanna get taken hostage or get in his way.” Despite Kirishima’s words, Midoriya stood still, thinking.

 

“What are you scared?” asked All Might. 

 

“If only Noumu was here,” said the leader. “He’d rush you right now. Pound you into the ground without giving it a second thought.”

 

“Tomura Shigaraki, please do not fret,” said Kurogiri. “Look at him. He has definitely weakened. Noumu’s attacks were successful. He’s on his own. The children seem to be frozen in fear. And look, our underlings are recovering. We likely still have a few minutes before their reinforcements arrive. If you and I work together, we can do this. We haven’t missed our chance to kill All Might.”

 

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. This is it. We have no choice. We have to do it now. I mean, the big end-boss is right here.”

 

Just like Kurogiri said, the lesser villains began to wake up and get up off the ground. “I think All Might can hold his own against the two big guys. Let’s make sure these dudes don’t hurt anybody else,” said Kirishima.

 

“Alright, let’s do this,” said Ryuji, electrifying his fists.

 

“Will you be joining us?” asked Todoroki to Midoriya.

 

Then, Shigaraki began to run towards All Might. “Consider this revenge for what you did to Noumu!” yelled Shigaraki. Kurogiri began to approach All Might as well. However, Midoriya, using his quirk, lunged at the villains with incredible speed.

 

“Huh…? How fast is this kid?” asked Ren to himself.

 

“Don’t you touch All Might!” yelled Midoriya. “You stupid villains!” However, Shigaraki put his hand through one of Kurogiri’s warp gates and made it so Midoriya’s face would get right into his hand. 

 

Then, suddenly, a bullet went through Shigaraki’s hand, knocking it away from Midoriya.

 

“They’re here!” proclaimed All Might.

 

“Sorry, everyone. I know we’re a bit late, but I got the teachers over here as fast as I could,” said the principal of UA. He had arrived with many of the pro hero teachers, and Iida,

 

“Your class representative has returned!” proclaimed Iida. “I’ve fulfilled my duty! And I’ve brought reinforcements!”

 

From that moment on, it was like a blur. Shigaraki was shot a couple more times, but he managed to escape with Kurogiri. All students were rescued, and Ryuji and Midoriya were sent to the hospital to have their injuries treated, though Ryuji’s visit was short compared to Midoriya’s. 

 

Though they’ve escaped the USJ in relative safety, now Ren, Ryuji, Morgana, and Mina are going to have to worry about stealing Bakugou’s treasure. From one test to another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we've finally finished the USJ arc. And we're gonna go straight into finishing Bakugou's palace.
> 
> Also, sorry about this being a late chapter. I was just really tired and couldn't finish it yesterday.


	21. Calling Card

It was the day after the USJ Incident, and everyone seemed to be more tense than usual. On the way to UA, Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana met with a less energetic Mina. “Hey guys,” yawned Mina, rubbing her eyes. “Sorry… I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night because of, well you know.”

 

“Yeah it’s crazy,” said Ryuji. “Those villains were no ‘effing joke. But they were no match to my pha-” before Ryuji could state that he was a Phantom Thief, Ren swiftly elbowed him in his side. “What the hell? We haven’t even done anything yet.”

 

“We don’t bring back any old habits, either,” mewed Morgana, smugly. “However, we have to be thinking about Bakugou’s calling card now.”

 

“Agreed,” said Ren. “Ryuji, are you going to be writing this one?”

 

“You can count on me!” exclaimed Ryuji. “I got it covered.”

 

“Wow, you guys sure have everything figured out,” said Mina. “Though you guys do have way more experienced than me.”

 

“Trust me, you’ll get it in no time.”

 

“Is that so, Ryuji?” asked Morgana. “I distinctly remember you taking a really long time to get everything about the metaverse.”

 

“She didn’t need to know that!”

 

Mina giggled. “I’m sure I’ll get it eventually, but that doesn’t really matter now. We have to steal his heart as soon as possible.”

 

“So it’s decided then,” began Ren. “We’ll be changing his heart tomorrow.”

 

“Hell yeah,” said Ryuji.

 

Eventually, they arrived at UA. The day was mostly normal, except for Aizawa being missing due to his injuries. Ren, Ryuji, and Mina tried their best to focus on their studies instead of their Phantom Thief work. 

 

However, during lunch, Tokoyami had walked up to the group. “Excuse me, Amamiya. Can I speak with you, in private?”

 

“I suppose,” answered Ren, as he stood up. He and Tokoyami walked off into the hallways, where nobody else was.

 

“I want to talk to you about your cat.”

 

“What?”

 

“Your cat. I don’t know his name, but I saw him at the USJ. I know it’s yours because I saw him with you after everything was over.”

 

“What about him?”

 

“He’s different. There’s something off about him.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Koda’s quirk lets him command animals. But when he used it on your cat, nothing happened. I want to know why.”

 

“Well…” began Ren, trying to think of a way to get out of this. “My cat actually has a quirk.”

 

“I see. You must be trying to keep him on a low profile.”

 

“Uh… yeah.”

 

“Well, your secret is safe with me. However, in the future, I will ask for you to do the same for me.”

 

“It’s a deal then.” Just then, the beginning of a bond began to form between

 

_ I am thou, thou art I…  _

_ Thou hast acquired a new vow. _

 

_ It shall become the wings of rebellion _

_ That breaketh thy chains of captivity. _

 

_ With the birth of the Temperance Persona _

_ I have obtained the winds of blessing that _

_ Shall lead to freedom and new power… _

 

The rest of the day went off without a hitch. And the very next day, the walls of the gates of UA were plastered with calling cards, all directed towards Bakugou. 

 

While walking from the train station to UA, Ren, Ryuji, and Mina had caught up to Midoriya, Bakugou, and Kirishima. “Kachan, this is bad,” said Midoriya.

 

“What the hell is it, Deku?” asked Bakugou.

 

“Are you not seeing these calling cards, man?” asked Kirishima.

 

“They don’t seem important enough to me.”

 

“Hey guys, you talkin’ about the calling cards?” asked Mina.

 

“Nah,” said Ryuji. “If they were Bakugou would probably be exploding by now.” Ryuji said this, trying to coax Bakugou into reading his calling card.

 

“What do you mean by that?!” yelled Bakugou towards Ryuji.

 

“I mean, it’s directed at you.” Ryuji plucked one of the calling cards off the wall and handed it to Bakugou. “Here, read it for yourself.”

 

_ “Katsuki Bakugou, the ticking time bomb of vanity. Your unchecked ego has created an image of unjust superiority among those around you, which has caused suffering for countless individuals. We have decided to make you confess all your injustices with your own mouth. We will take your distorted desires without fail. From, The Phantom Thieves.” _ Bakugou crumpled up the calling card and threw it on the ground. “What a bunch of bullshit! Deku, do you have anything to do with this!?”

 

“N-No, not at all!” said Midoriya, in a panic.

 

“I’ll kill whoever did this, god damn it!”

 

Suddenly, Ren, Ryuji, Mina, and Morgana found themselves in a black void. Midoriya and Kirishima were gone, and Bakugou had turned into his shadow. Mina was very alarmed by this, however, the other three knew this was normal.

 

“Ha! You think you can beat me? I’d like to see you try!” exclaimed Shadow Bakugou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking last week off, but, y'know, Thanksgiving and all that for Americans.
> 
> And sorry for this being such a short chapter. To be honest, I'm getting kind of burnt out, so after finishing this arc I'm going to take a break and work on some other fics. That doesn't mean I'm dropping this fic for good though. Just two more chapters and I'll take a step away temporarily so I don't turn myself off from this work completely.


End file.
